BS  2505  .J7  1905  c.l 
Jowett,  John  Henry,  1864- 
1923. 

The  passion  for  souls 

C  o  ffl 


1>V 


THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


By  J.  H.  JOWETT, 

D.D. 

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The  Passion  for  Souls 


V 


/    By 


J.  H.  JOWETT,  M.iV 

Author  of  "  Brooks  by  the  Traveller's  Way,"  etc. 


New  York       Chicago       Toronto 

Fleming  H.   Revell  Company 

London        and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,   1905,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


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Zo 
flDl?  fatber  a^^  flDotber 


CONTENTS 

I.  The  Disciple's  Theme    ....  9 

II.  The  Disciple's  Sacrifice         ...  27 

III.  The  Disciple's  Tenderness     ...  46 

IV.  The  Disciple  Watching  for  Souls  .  59 

V.  The  Disciple's  Companion      ...  74 

VI.  The  Disciple's  Rest       ....  94 

VII.  The  Disciple's  Vision    .         .         ,         •  >  1 5 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME 

"  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints, 
was  this  grace  given,  to  preach  unto  the  Gentiles  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ." — Eph.  3  :  8. 

Mark  how  the  apostle  describes  the  evan- 
gel— "  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  1  " 
It  suggests  the  figure  of  a  man  standing, 
with  uplifted  hands,  in  a  posture  of  great 
amazement,  before  continuous  revelations  of 
immeasurable  and  unspeakable  glory.  In 
whatever  way  he  turns,  the  splendour  con- 
fronts him !  It  is  not  a  single  highway  of 
enrichment.  There  are  side-ways,  byways, 
turnings  here  and  there,  labyrinthine  paths 
and  recesses,  and  all  of  them  abounding  in 
unsuspected  jewels  of  grace.  It  is  as  if  a 
miner,  working  away  at  the  primary  vein  of 
ore,  should  continually  discover  equally  pre- 
cious veins  stretching  out  on  every  side,  and 
overwhelming  him  in  rich  embarrassment. 
It  is  as  if  a  little  child,  gathering  the  wild 
sweet  heather  at  the  fringe  of  the  road, 
9 


lo       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

should  lift  his  eyes  and  catch  sight  of  the  pur- 
ple glory  of  a  boundless  moor.  "The  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ  I "  It  is  as  if  a 
man  were  tracking  out  the  confines  of  a  lake, 
walking  its  boundaries,  and  when  the  circuit 
were  almost  complete  should  discover  that  it 
was  no  lake  at  all,  but  an  arm  of  the  ocean, 
and  that  he  was  confronted  by  the  immeasur- 
able sea !  "  The  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ ! "  This  sense  of  amazement  is  never 
absent  from  the  apostle's  life  and  writings. 
His  wonder  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on.  To- 
day's surprise  almost  makes  yesterday's  won- 
der a  commonplace.  Again  and  again  he 
checks  himself,  and  stops  the  march  of  his 
argument,  as  the  glory  breathes  upon  him  the 
new  freshness  of  the  morning.  You  know 
how  the  familiar  psean  runs.  "  According  to 
the  riches  of  His  grace."  "  That  He  would 
grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His 
glory."  "  God  shall  supply  all  your  need  ac- 
cording to  His  riches  in  glory  by  Christ 
Jesus."  "The  riches  of  the  glory  of  this 
mystery  among  the  Gentiles."  "  The  same 
Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  n 

Him."  "  In  everything  ye  are  enriched  in 
Him."  "  The  exceeding  riches  of  His  grace." 
His  thought  is  overwhelmed.  He  is  dazzled 
by  the  splendour.  Speech  is  useless.  De- 
scription is  impossible.  He  just  breaks  out 
in  awed  and  exultant  exclamation.  "  O,  the 
depth  of  the  Viches  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  God  1 "  The  riches  are  "  un- 
searchable," untrackable,  "  beyond  all  knowl- 
edge and  all  thought." 

But  now,  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  these  "  un- 
searchable riches  "  are  not  merely  the  subjects 
of  contemplation,  they  are  objects  of  appro- 
priation. This  ideal  wealth  is  usable  glory, 
usable  for  the  enrichment  of  the  race.  The 
"  unsearchable  riches "  fit  themselves  into 
every  possible  condition  of  human  poverty 
and  need.  The  ocean  of  grace  flows  about 
the  shore  of  common  life,  into  all  its  dis- 
tresses and  gaping  wants,  and  it  fills  every 
crack  and  crevice  to  the  full.  That  is  the 
sublime  confidence  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  He 
stands  before  all  the  desert  places  in  human 
life,  the  mere  cinder-heaps,  the  men  and  the 
women    with     burnt-out    enthusiasms    and 


12       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

affections,  and  he  boldly  proclaims  their 
possible  enrichment.  He  stands  before  sin, 
and  proclaims  that  sin  can  be  destroyed. 
He  stands  before  sorrow,  and  proclaims  that 
sorrow  can  be  transfigured.  He  stands  be- 
fore the  broken  and  perverted  relationships 
of  men,  and  proclaims  that  they  can  all  be 
rectified.  And  all  this  in  the  strength  of 
'•the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ!"  To 
this  man  the  wealth  is  realizable,  and  can  be 
applied  to  the  removal  of  all  the  deepest 
needs  of  men.  Let  us  fasten  our  attention 
here  for  a  littie  while,  in  the  contemplation  of 
this  man's  amazing  confidence  in  the  trium- 
phant powers  of  grace. 

He  stands  before  sin  and  proclaims  its  pos- 
sible destruction.  It  is  not  only  that  he  pro- 
claims the  general  ministry  of  pardon  and  the 
general  removal  of  sin.  He  finds  his  special 
delight  in  specializing  the  ministry,  and  in 
proclaiming  the  all-sufficiency  of  redeeming 
grace  in  its  relationship  to  the  worst  There 
is  about  him  the  fearlessness  of  a  man  who 
knows  that  his  evangel  is  that  of  a  redemp- 
tion which   cannot   possibly  fail.     Turn  to 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  13 

those  gloomy  catalogues  which  are  found 
here  and  there  in  his  epistles,  long  appalling 
lists  of  human  depravity  and  human  need, 
and  from  these  estimate  his  glowing  confi- 
dence in  the  powers  of  redeeming  grace. 
Here  is  such  a  list : — "  Fornicators,  idolaters, 
adulterers,  effeminate,  abusers  of  themselves 
with  men,  thieves,  covetous,  drunkards,  re- 
vilers,  extortioners."  Such  were  some  of  the 
foul  issues  upon  which  the  saving  energies  of 
grace  were  to  be  brought.  And  then  he 
adds — "And  such  were  some  of  you.  But 
ye  were  washed  !  "  And  when  the  Apostle 
uses  the  word  **  washed  "  he  suggests  more 
than  the  washing  out  of  an  old  sin,  he  means 
the  removal  of  an  old  affection  ;  more  than 
the  removal  of  a  pimple,  he  means  the  purify- 
ing of  the  blood  ;  more  than  the  cancelling  of 
guilt,  he  means  the  transformation  of  desire. 
Such  was  this  man's  belief  in  the  saving 
ministry  of  divine  grace.  Do  we  share  his 
confidence  ?  Do  we  speak  with  the  same  un- 
shaken assurance,  or  do  we  stagger  through 
unbelief?  Does  our  speech  tremble  with 
hesitancy  and  indecision  ?    If  we  had  here  a 


14       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

company  of  men  and  women  whose  condition 
might  well  place  them  in  one  of  the  cata- 
logues of  the  Apostle  Paul,  could  we  address 
to  them  an  evangel  of  untroubled  assurance, 
and  would  our  tones  have  that  savour  of  per- 
suasion which  would  make  our  message  be- 
lieved ?  What  could  we  tell  them  with  firm 
and  illumined  convictions?  Could  we  tell 
them  that  the  cinder-heaps  can  be  made  into 
gardens,  and  that  the  desert  can  be  made  to 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose?  I  say, 
should  we  stagger  in  the  presence  of  the 
worst,  or  should  we  triumphantly  exult  in  the 
power  of  Christ's  salvation  ? 

It  has  always  been  characteristic  of  great 
soul-winners  that,  in  the  strength  of  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ,  they  have  pro- 
claimed the  possible  enrichment  and  ennoble- 
ment of  the  most  debased.  John  Wesley  ap- 
peared to  take  almost  a  pride  in  recounting 
and  describing  the  appalling  ruin  and  defile- 
ment of  mankind,  that  he  might  then  glory 
in  all-sufficient  power  of  redeeming  grace. 
• "  I  preached  at  Bath.  Some  of  the  rich  and 
great  were  present,  to  whom,  as  to  the  rest, 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  15 

I  declared  with  all  plainness  of  speech,  (i) 
That  by  nature  they  were  all  children  of 
wrath.  (2)  That  all  their  natural  tempers 
were     corrupted    and    abominable.     .     .     . 

One  of  my  hearers,  my  Lord ,  stayed 

very  impatiently  until  I  came  to  the  middle 
of  my  fourth  head.  Then,  starting  up,  he 
said,  *  'Tis  hot !  'tis  very  hot,'  and  got  down- 
stairs as  fast  as  he  could."     My  Lord 

should  have  stayed  a  little  longer,  for  John 
Wesley's  analysis  of  depravity  and  of  human 
need  was  only  and  always  the  preface  to  the 
introduction  of  the  glories  of  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ.    My  Lord should 

have  waited  until  Wesley  got  to  the  marrow 
of  his  text,  *'  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 

There  was  a  similar  sublime  confidence  in 
the  preaching  of  Spurgeon.  What  a  magnifi- 
cent assurance  breathes  through  these  words, 
"  The  blood  of  Christ  can  wash  out  blasphemy, 
adultery,  fornication,  lying,  slander,  perjury, 
theft,  murder.  Though  thou  hast  raked  in 
the  very  kennels  of  hell,  yet  if  thou  wilt  come 
to   Christ  and  ask  mercy  He  will  absolve 


i6       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

thee  from  all  sin."  That  too,  I  think,  is 
quite  Pauline.  Henry  Drummond  has  told 
us  that  he  has  sometimes  listened  to  confes- 
sions of  sin  and  to  stories  of  ill-living  so 
filthy  and  so  loathsome  that  he  felt  when 
he  returned  home  that  he  must  change  his 
very  clothes.  And  yet  to  these  plague- 
smitten  children  Drummond  offered  with 
joyful  confidence  the  robe  of  righteous- 
ness and  the  garment  of  salvation.  We 
need  this  confident  hope  to-day.  Men  and 
women  are  round  about  us,  will-less,  heart- 
less, hopeless,  and  there  is  something  stimu- 
lating and  magnetic  about  a  strong  man's 
confident  speech.  If  we  proclaim  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ,  let  us  proclaim 
them  with  a  confidence  bom  of  experimental 
fellowship  with  the  Lord,  and  with  the  un- 
trembling  assurance  that  the  crown  of  life 
can  be  brought  to  the  most  besotted,  and 
the  pure  white  robe  to  the  most  defiled. 

What  else  does  Paul  find  in  the  unsearcha- 
ble riches  of  Christ?  He  finds  a  gracious 
ministry  for  the  transfiguration  of  sorrow. 
The  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  bring  most 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  17 

winsome  light  and  heat  into  the  midst  of 
human  sorrow  and  grief.  "  Our  consolations 
also  abound  through  Christ."  Turn  where 
you  will,  in  the  life  of  Paul,  into  his  darker 
seasons  and  experiences,  and  you  will  find 
that  the  sublime  and  spiritual  consolation  is 
shedding  its  comforting  rays.  "  We  rejoice 
in  tribulations  also."  Who  would  have  ex- 
pected to  find  the  light  burning  there  ?  "  We 
sorrow,  yet  not  as  others  who  have  no  hope." 
"  Not  as  others ! "  It  is  sorrow  with  the 
light  streaming  through  it  1  It  is  an  April 
shower,  mingled  sunshine  and  rain  ;  the  hope 
gleams  through  tears.  The  light  transfigures 
what  it  touches  1  Even  the  yew  tree  in  my 
garden,  so  sombre  and  so  sullen,  shows 
another  face  when  the  sunlight  falls  upon 
it.     I  think  I  have  seen  the  yew  tree  smile  1 

Even  pain  shows  a  new  face  when  the 
glory-light  beams  upon  it.  Said  Frances 
Ridley  Havergal,  that  exultant  singing  spirit, 
with  the  frail,  shaking,  pain-ridden  body, 
"  Everybody  is  so  sorry  for  me  except  my- 
self." And  then  she  uses  the  phrase,  "  I  see 
my  pain  in  the  light  of  Calvary."     It  is  the 


i8        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

yew  tree  with  the  light  upon  it  1  Such  is 
the  ministry  of  the  unsearchable  riches  in 
the  night-time  of  pain.  Professor  Elmslie 
said  to  one  of  his  dearest  friends  towards 
the  end  of  his  days,  "What  people  need 
most  is  comfort."  If  that  be  true,  then  the 
sad,  tear-stricken,  heavy-laden  children  of 
men  will  find  their  satisfaction  only  in  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

What  further  discoveries  does  the  Apostle 
make  in  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ? 
He  not  only  confronts  sin  and  claims  that  it 
can  be  destroyed,  and  stands  before  sorrow 
and  claims  that  it  can  be  transfigured,  he 
stands  amid  the  misunderstandings  of  men, 
amid  the  perversions  in  the  purposed  order 
of  life,  the  ugly  twists  that  have  been  given 
to  fellowships  which  were  ordained  to  be 
beautiful  and  true,  and  he  proclaims  their 
possible  rectification  in  Christ.  When  Paul 
wants  to  bring  correcting  and  enriching 
forces  into  human  affairs,  he  seejafcli^ 
wealthy  energy  in  "the  unsearchable  ricnis 
of  Christ."  He  finds  the  ore  for  all  ethical 
and  social  enrichments  in  this  vast  spiritual 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  19 

deposit.  He  goes  into  the  home,  and  seeks 
the  adjustment  of  the  home  relationships, 
and  the  heightening  and  enrichment  of  the 
marriage  vow.  And  by  what  means  does 
he  seek  it?  By  bringing  Calvary's  tree  to 
the  very  hearthstone,  the  merits  of  the  bleed- 
ing sacrifice  to  the  enrichment  of  the  wedded 
life.  "  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  as  Christ 
also  loved  the  Church  and  gave  Himself  for 
it."  He  goes  into  the  domain  of  labour,  and 
seeks  the  resetting  of  the  relationships  of 
master  and  servant.  And  by  what  means 
does  he  seek  it?  By  seeking  the  spiritual 
enrichment  of  both  master  and  servant  in  a 
common  communion  with  the  wealth  of  the 
blessed  Lord.  He  takes  our  common  inti- 
macies, our  familiar  contracts,  the  points 
where  we  meet  in  daily  fellowship,  and  he 
seeks  to  transform  the  touch  which  carries 
an  ill  contagion  into  a  touch  which  shall  be 
the  vehicle  of  contagious  health.  And  by 
what  means  does  he  seek  it?  By  bringing 
the  Cross  to  the  common  life  and  letting  the 
wealth  of  that  transcendent  sacrifice  reveal 
the   work    of    the   individual   soul.     Every- 


20       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

where  the  Apostle  finds  in  the  "  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ"  life's  glorious  ideal,  and  the 
all-sufficient  dynamic  by  which  it  is  to  be 
attained.  Here,  then,  my  brethren,  are  the 
"unsearchable  riches"  of  Christ — riches  of 
love,  riches  of  pardon,  riches  of  comfort, 
riches  of  health,  riches  for  restoring  the  sin- 
scorched  wastes  of  the  soul,  riches  for  trans- 
figuring the  sullenness  of  sorrow  and  pain, 
and  riches  for  healthily  adjusting  the  per- 
verted relationships  of  the  home,  the  state 
and  the  race.  These  riches  are  ours.  Every 
soul  is  heir  to  the  vast  inheritance!  The 
riches  are  waiting  for  the  claimants !  And 
some,  yea,  multitudes  of  our  fellows  have 
claimed  them,  and  they  are  moving  about 
in  the  humdrum  ways  of  common  life  with 
the  joyful  consciousness  of  spiritual  million- 
aires. One  such  man  is  described  by  James 
Smetham.  He  was  a  humble  member  of 
Smetham's  Methodist  class-meeting.  "  He 
sold  a  bit  of  tea  .  .  .  and  staggered 
along  in  June  days  with  a  tendency  to 
hernia,  and  prayed  as  if  he  had  a  fortune 
of  ten  thousand  a  year,  and  were  ^the  best-off 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  21 

man  in  the  world  1 "  His  "  bit  of  tea"  and 
his  rupture  !  But  with  the  consciousness  of 
a  spiritual  millionaire  !  "  All  this,"  said  the 
old  woman  to  Bishop  Burnett,  as  she  held  up 
a  crust,  "all  this  and  Christ!"  These  are 
the  folk  who  have  inherited  the  promises, 
who  have  even  now  inherited  the  treasures 
in  heaven :  and  "  unto  me,  who  am  less  than 
the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given,  to 
preach  these  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ." 

Let  me  turn,  in  conclusion,  from  the  disci- 
ple's theme  to  the  preacher  himself.  "  Unto 
me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints." 
Then  the  disciple  is  possessed  by  a  sense  of 
profound  humility.  "  Unto  me  " — the  stand- 
ing amazement  of  it,  that  he  should  have 
been  chosen,  first,  to  share  the  wealth,  to 
claim  the  inheritance,  and  then  to  make 
known  his  discovery  to  others.  "  Unto  me, 
who  am  less  than  the  least" — he  violates 
grammar,  he  coins  a  word  which  I  suppose 
is  used  nowhere  else.  It  is  not  enough  for 
Paul  to  obtain  a  word  which  signifies  the 
least,  he  wants  a  place  beneath  the  least — 
"  unto  me,  who  am   less  than  the  least " — 


22        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

such  a  word  does  he  require  in  order  to  ex- 
press his  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness. 
"  Less  than  the  least."  He  gazes  back ; 
surely  I  don't  misinterpret  the  Apostle  when 
I  say  it — he  gazes  back  upon  the  days  of  his 
alienation,  upon  the  days  when  he  was  de- 
riding and  scorning  the  supposed  riches  of 
his  Master's  kingdom.  Again  and  again,  in 
places  where  I  least  expect  it,  I  find  the 
Apostle  turning  a  powerful  and,  I  think, 
pain-ridden  gaze  into  those  early  days  when 
he  lived  in  revolt.  If  you  turn  to  Romans  i6, 
that  collection  of  miscellanies,  a  chapter  which 
I  suppose  we  don't  often  read,  which  is  con- 
cerned largely  with  salutations  and  the  cour- 
tesies of  common  life,  you  get  here  and  there 
most  vivid  glimpses  into  the  consciousness 
of  the  Apostle.  Here  is  one :  "  Salute  Andro- 
nicus,  and  Junia,  my  kinsmen,  and  my  fel- 
low-prisoners who  were  in  Christ  before  me." 
Do  you  feel  the  sob  of  it — "  who  were  in 
Christ  before  me "  ?  They  were  serving 
Him,  following  Him,  proclaiming  Him,  while 
I  was  still  a  declared  and  implacable  foe ; 
they  were  in  Christ  before  me.     But  unto 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME         23 

me,  less  than  Andronicus,  less  than  Junia, 
and  less  than  the  least  of  all,  unto  me  was 
the  grace  given.  I  think  we  shall  have  to 
share  it  with  him — this  sense  of  unworthiness 
at  being  called  and  elected  by  grace  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  We  shall  have  to  enter  into 
controversy  even  with  the  old  Puritan  who 
said,  "I  do  not  quarrel  with  Paul's  language, 
but  I  do  dispute  his  right  to  push  me  out  of 
my  place."  " '  Less  than  the  least,' "  said  the 
Puritan,  "  is  my  place."  Surely  the  preacher 
must  sometimes  lay  down  his  pen,  and  pause 
in  the  very  middle  of  his  preparation,  in  a 
sense  of  extreme  wonderment  that  the  con- 
descending Lord  should  have  chosen  him  to 
be  the  vehicle  and  messenger  of  eternal  grace. 
The  man  who  feels  unworthy  will  be  kept 
open  and  receptive  towards  the  fountain. 
"  Why  did  Jesus  choose  Judas  ?  "  said  an  in- 
quirer once  to  Dr.  Parker.  "  I  don't  know," 
replied  the  Doctor,  **  but  I  have  a  bigger 
mystery  still.  I  cannot  make  out  why  He 
chose  me."  "  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than 
the  least  of  all  saints  was  this  grace  given." 
I  wish  I  could  just  read  that  in  the  very  tone 


24       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

and  accent  in  which  I  think  the  Apostle  him- 
self would  have  proclaimed  it.  I  think  the 
early  part  of  it  would  have  to  be  read  almost 
tremblingly.  Mark  the  mingling  of  profound 
humility  with  the  tone  of  absolute  confidence. 
When  the  Apostle  looked  at  himself  he  was 
filled  with  shrinkings  and  timidities,  but  when 
he  thought  about  his  acceptance  and  his 
endowment  he  was  possessed  by  confident 
triumph.  Whatever  shrinking  he  had  about 
himself,  he  had  no  shrinking  that  he  was  the 
elect  of  God,  endowed  with  the  grace  of  God, 
in  order  to  proclaim  the  evangel  of  God.  It 
was  just  because  he  was  so  perfectly  assured 
of  his  acceptance  and  of  his  vocation  that  he 
felt  so  perfectly  unworthy.  Did  not  Crom- 
well say  of  George  Fox  that  an  enormous 
sacred  self-confidence  was  not  the  least  of  his 
attainments?  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  Oliver 
Cromwell  correctly  interpreted  George  Fox. 
I  would  be  inclined  to  withdraw  the  word 
"  self "  and  insert  the  word  "  God,"  and  then 
we  have  got,  not  only  what  George  Fox 
ought  to  be,  but  what  the  Apostle  Paul  was, 
and  what  every  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  ex- 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  THEME  25 

pected  to  be  in  Christ ;  we  are  expected  to  be 
the  children  of  an  enormous  God-confidence, 
we  are  to  be  children  absolutely  assured  that 
we  are  in  communion  with  Christ,  and  are 
even  now  receptive  of  His  grace. 

"  Unto  me  was  the  grace  given."  With- 
out that  grace  there  can  be  no  herald,  and 
without  that  grace  there  can,  therefore,  be  no 
evangel.  You  have  heard  the  old  legend  of 
the  noble  hall,  and  the  horn  that  hung  by  the 
gate  waiting  for  the  heir's  return  ;  none  could 
blow  the  horn  except  the  heir  to  the  noble 
pile.  One  stranger  after  another  would  come 
and  put  the  horn  to  his  lips,  but  fail  to  sound 
the  blast.  Then  the  heir  appeared,  took  the 
horn  down  from  the  gate,  blew  it,  and  there 
came  the  blast  that  rang  down  the  valley  and 
wound  round  the  hills.  "  Unto  me  was  the 
grace  given "  to  blow  the  horn ;  "  unto  me 
was  the  grace  given  "  to  preach  ;  and  none 
but  the  one  who  has  the  grace  of  the  heir  can 
blow  the  horn  of  the  Gospel.  Our  main  work, 
our  supreme  work,  our  work,  before  which  all 
other  pales  and  becomes  dim,  is  to  tell  the 
good  news,  to  go  everywhere,  letting  every- 


26        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

body  know  about  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  When  Professor  Elmslie  was  dying, 
he  said  to  his  wife,  "No  man  can  deny  that 
I  have  always  preached  the  love  of  God  "  ; 
and  just  before  he  died  he  said  again,  "Kate, 
God  is  love,  all  love.  Kate,  we  will  tell  every- 
body that,  but  especially  our  own  boy — at 
least,  you  will — we  will  tell  everybody  that ; 
that's  my  vocation."  That  is  the  vocation  of 
the  disciple,  to  tell  everybody  of  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ. 


II 

THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE 

"I  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions 
of  Christ." — CoLOssiANS  i :  24. 

"  I  FILL  Up  that  which  is  behind  ! "  Not 
that  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  is  incom- 
plete. Not  that  Gethsemane  and  Calvary- 
have  failed.  Not  that  the  debt  of  gxiilt  is 
only  partially  paid,  and  there  is  now  a  threat- 
ening remnant  which  demands  the  sacrifice 
of  human  blood.  The  ministry  of  atonement 
is  perfected.  There  is  no  outstanding  debt. 
"  Jesus  paid  it  all."  In  the  one  commanding 
sacrifice  for  human  sin  Calvary  leaves  noth- 
ing for  you  and  me  to  do.  In  the  bundle  of 
the  Saviour's  sufferings  every  needful  pang 
was  borne. 

Bearing  shame  and  scoffing  rude, 
In  my  place  condemned  He  stood, 
Sealed  my  pardon  with  His  blood. 

I  can  add  nothing  to  that.     There  is  noth- 
ing lacking.     The  sacrifice  is  all  sufficient. 
27 


28       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

And  yet  "I  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ."  The  sufferings 
need  a  herald.  A  story  needs  a  teller.  A 
gospel  requires  an  evangelist.  A  finished 
case  demands  efficient  presentation.  The 
monarch  must  repeat  himself  through  his 
ambassadors.  The  atoning  Saviour  must 
express  Himself  through  the  ministering 
Paul.  The  work  of  Calvary  must  proclaim 
itself  in  the  sacrificial  saints.  In  his  own 
sphere,  and  in  his  own  degree,  Paul  must  be 
Christ  repeated.  As  a  minister  in  Greece 
and  Asia  Minor  Paul  must  reincarnate  the 
sacrificial  spirit  of  Jerusalem  and  Galilee. 
He  must  "  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  in  the 
sufferings  of  Christ."  The  suggestion  is 
this — all  ministry  for  the  Master  must  be 
possessed  by  the  sacrificial  spirit  of  the  Mas- 
ter. If  Paul  is  to  help  in  the  redemption  of 
Rome  he  must  himself  incarnate  the  death  of 
Calvary.  If  he  is  to  be  a  minister  of  life  he 
must  "  die  daily."  "  The  blood  is  the  life." 
Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no 
regenerative  toil.  Every  real  lift  implies  a 
corresponding    strain,     and    wherever     the 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      29 

crooked  is  made  straight  "  virtue  "  must  go 
out  of  the  erect.  The  spirit  of  Calvary  is  to 
be  reincarnated  in  Ephesus  and  Athens  and 
Rome  and  London  and  Birmingham ;  the 
sacrificiai  succession  is  to  be  maintained 
through  the  ages,  and  we  are  to  "  fill  up  that 
which  is  behind  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ." 
"  I  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  "  !  That  is 
not  the  presumptuous  boast  of  perilous 
pride ;  it  is  the  quiet,  awed  aspiration  of 
privileged  fellowship  with  the  Lord.  Here 
is  an  Apostle,  a  man  who  thinks  meanly 
enough  of  himself,  counting  himself  an  abor- 
tion, regarding  himself  as  "  the  least  of  the 
apostles,  not  worthy  to  be  called  an  apostle," 
and  yet  he  dares  to  whisper  his  own  name 
alongside  his  Master's,  and  humbly  to  associ- 
ate his  own  pangs  with  the  sufferings  of  re- 
demptive love.  "I  fill  up  that  which  is  be- 
hind of  the  sufferings  of  Christ."  Is  the 
association  permissible?  Are  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  and  His  Aposdes  complementary, 
and  are  they  profoundly  cooperative  in  the 
ministry  of  salvation?  Dare  we  proclaim 
them  together  ? 


30       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Here  is  an  association.  "  In  all  their  afflic- 
tions He  was  afflicted."  "  Who  is  weak  and 
I  am  not  weak ;  who  is  offended  and  I  bum 
not  ?  "  Is  the  association  alien  and  uncon- 
genial, or  is  it  altogether  legitimate  and 
fitting?  "In  all  their  afflictions  He  was 
afflicted" — the  deep,  poignant,  passionate 
sympathy  of  the  Saviour;  "Who  is  weak 
and  I  am  not  weak" — the  deep,  poignant, 
passionate  sympathy  of  the  ambassador. 
The  kinship  in  the  succession  is  vital.  The 
daily  dying  of  the  Apostle  corroborates  and 
drives  home  the  one  death  of  his  Lord.  The 
suffering  sympathies  in  Rome  perfected  the 
exquisite  sensitiveness  in  Galilee  and  Jerusa- 
lem. The  bleeding  heart  in  Rome  perfected 
the  ministry  of  the  broken  heart  upon  the 
Cross.  Paul  "  filled  up  that  which  was  be- 
hind of  the  sufferings  of  Christ." 

Here,  then,  is  a  principle.  The  gospel  of 
a  broken  heart  demands  the  ministry  of 
bleeding  hearts.  If  that  succession  be  broken 
we  lose  our  fellowship  with  the  King.  As 
soon  as  we  cease  to  bleed  we  cease  to  bless. 
When  our  sympathy  loses  its  pang  we  can 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      31 

no  longer  be  the  servants  of  the  passion. 
We  no  longer  "fill  up  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,"  and  not  to  "fill  up"  is  to  paralyze, 
and  to  "make  the  cross  of  Christ  of  none 
effect."  Now  the  aposde  was  a  man  of  the 
most  vivid  and  realistic  sympathy.  "Who 
is  weak  and  I  am  not  weak?"  His  sym- 
pathy was  a  perpetuation  of  the  Passion. 
I  am  amazed  at  its  intensity  and  scope. 
What  a  broad,  exquisite  surface  of  percep- 
tiveness  he  exposed  to  the  needs  and  sorrows 
of  the  race  !  Wherever  there  was  a  pang  it 
tore  the  strings  of  his  sensitive  heart.  Now 
it  is  the  painful  fears  and  alarms  of  a  run- 
away slave,  and  now  the  dumb,  dark  agonies 
of  people  far  away.  The  Apostle  felt  as 
vividly  as  he  thought,  and  he  lived  through 
all  he  saw.  He  was  being  continually 
aroused  by  the  sighs  and  cries  of  his  fellow 
men.  He  heard  a  cry  from  Macedonia,  and 
the  pain  on  the  distant  shore  was  reflected 
in  his  own  life.  That  is  the  only  recorded 
voice,  but  he  was  hearing  them  every  day, 
wandering,  pain-filled,  fear-filled  voices,  call- 
ing out  of  the  night,  voices  from  Corinth, 


32        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

from  Athens,  from  Rome  also,  and  from  dis- 
tant Spain  !  "  Who  is  weak  and  I  am  not 
weak  ?  "  He  was  exhausted  with  other  folk's 
exhaustion,  and  in  the  heavy  burdensome- 
ness  he  touched  the  mystery  of  Gethsemane, 
and  had  fellowship  with  the  sufferings  of  his 
Lord. 

My  brethren,  are  we  in  this  succession  ? 
Does  the  cry  of  the  world's  need  pierce  the 
heart,  and  ring  even  through  the  fabric  of 
our  dreams  ?  Do  we  •'  fill  up "  our  Lord's 
sufferings  with  our  own  sufferings,  or  are  we 
the  unsympathetic  ministers  of  a  mighty  Pas- 
sion ?  I  am  amazed  how  easily  I  become 
callous.  I  am  ashamed  how  small  and  in- 
sensitive is  the  surface  which  I  present  to  the 
needs  and  sorrows  of  the  world,  I  so  easily 
become  enwrapped  in  the  soft  wool  of  self- 
indulgency,  and  the  cries  from  far  and  near 
cannot  reach  my  easeful  soul.  "Why  do 
you  wish  to  return  ?  "  I  asked  a  noble  young 
missionary  who  had  been  invalided  home : 
"  Why  do  you  wish  to  return  ?  "  "  Because 
I  can't  sleep  for  thinking  of  them ! "  But, 
my  brethren,  except  when   I  spend  a  day 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      33 

with  my  Lord,  the  trend  of  my  Hfe  is  quite 
another  way.  I  cannot  think  about  them  be- 
cause I  am  so  inclined  to  sleep  !  A  benumb- 
ment  settles  down  upon  my  spirit,  and  the 
pangs  of  the  world  awake  no  corresponding 
sympathy.  I  can  take  my  newspaper,  which 
is  ofttimes  a  veritable  cup-full  of  horrors, 
and  I  can  peruse  it  at  the  breakfast  table, 
and  it  does  not  add  a  single  tang  to  my  feast. 
I  wonder  if  one  who  is  so  unmoved  can  ever 
be  a  servant  of  the  suffering  Lord ! 

Here  in  my  newspaper  is  the  long,  small- 
typed  casualty  list  from  the  seat  of  war  ;  or 
here  is  half  a  column  of  the  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanours of  my  city  ;  or  here  is  a  couple 
of  columns  descriptive  of  the  hot  and  frantic 
doings  of  the  race-course  ;  or  here  is  a  small 
corner  paragraph  telling  me  about  some 
massacres  in  China  ;  or  here  are  two  little 
hidden  lines  saying  that  a  man  named  James 
Chalmers  has  been  murdered  in  New  Guinea ! 
And  I  can  read  it  all  while  I  take  my  break 
fast,  and  the  dark  record  does  not  haunt  the 
day  with  the  mingled  wails  of  the  orphaned 
and  the   damned.     My  brethren,  I   do  not 


34       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

know  how  any  Christian  service  is  to  be 
fruitful  if  the  servant  is  not  primarily  bap- 
tized in  the  spirit  of  a  suffering  compassion. 
We  can  never  heal  the  needs  we  do  not  feel. 
Tearless  hearts  can  never  be  the  heralds  of 
the  Passion.  We  must  pity  if  we  would  re- 
deem. We  must  bleed  if  we  would  be  the 
ministers  of  the  saving  blood.  We  must 
perfect  by  our  passion  the  Passion  of  the 
Lord,  and  by  our  own  suffering  sympathies 
we  must  **  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  in  the 
sufferings  of  Christ."  "  Put  on,  therefore,  as 
God's  elect,  a  heart  of  compassion." 

Here  is  another  association.  Can  we  find 
a  vital  kinship  ?  "  He  offered  up  prayers 
and  supplications  with  strong  crying  and 
tears."  So  far  the  Master.  "  I  would  have 
you  know  how  greatly  I  agonize  for  you." 
So  far  the  Apostle.  The  Saviour  prayed 
"  with  strong  crying  and  tears"  ;  His  Apostle 
**  agonized  "  in  intercession  !  Is  the  associa- 
tion legitimate?  Did  not  the  agony  at  Rome 
"  fill  up"  the  "  strong  cryings  "  at  Jerusalem? 
Does  not  the  interceding  Apostle  enter  into 
the  fellowship  of  his  Master's  sufferings,  and 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      35 

perfect  that  "  which  is  behind  "  ?  The  inter- 
cession in  Rome  is  akin  to  the  intercession  in 
Jerusalem,  and  both  are  affairs  of  blood.  If 
the  prayer  of  the  disciple  is  to  "  fill  up  "  the 
intercession  of  the  Master,  the  disciple's 
prayer  must  be  stricken  with  much  crying 
and  many  tears.  The  ministers  of  Calvary  1 
must  supplicate  in  bloody  sweat,  and  their  | 
intercession  must  often  touch  the  point  of ' 
agony.  If  we  pray  in  cold  blood  we  are  no 
longer  the  ministers  of  the  Cross.  True  in- 
tercession is  a  sacrifice,  a  bleeding  sacrifice, 
a  perpetuation  of  Calvary,  a  "  filling  up  "  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ.  St.  Catherine  told 
a  friend  that  the  anguish  which  she  experi- 
enced, in  the  realization  of  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  was  greatest  at  the  moment  when  she 
was  pleading  for  the  salvation  of  others. 
"  Promise  me  that  Thou  wilt  save  them ! " 
she  cried,  and  stretching  forth  her  right  hand 
to  Jesus,  she  again  implored  in  agony, 
"Promise  me,  dear  Lord,  that  Thou  wilt 
save  them.  O  give  me  a  token  that  Thou 
wilt."  Then  her  Lord  seemed  to  clasp  her 
outstretched  hand  in  His,  and  to  give  her 


36       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

the  promise,  and  she  felt  a  piercing  pain  as 
though  a  nail  had  been  driven  through  the 
palm.  I  think  I  know  the  meaning  of  the 
mystic  experience.  She  had  become  so  ab- 
solutely one  with  the  interceding  Saviour 
that  she  entered  into  the  fellowship  of  His 
crucifixion.  Her  prayers  were  red  with  sac- 
rifice, and  she  felt  the  grasp  of  the  pierced  hand. 
My  brethren,  this  is  the  ministry  which  the 
Master  owns,  the  agonized  yearnings  which 
perfect  the  sufferings  of  His  own  interces- 
sion. And  we  in  the  succession  ?  Do  our 
prayers  bleed?  Have  we  felt  the  painful 
fellowship  of  the  pierced  hand?  I  am  so 
often  ashamed  of  my  prayers.  They  so 
frequently  cost  me  nothing;  they  shed  no 
blood.  I  am  amazed  at  the  grace  and  con- 
descension of  my  Lord  that  He  confers  any 
fruitfulness  upon  my  superficial  pains.  I 
think  of  David  Brainerd — I  think  of  his  mag- 
nificent ministry  among  the  Indians,  whole 
tribes  being  swayed  by  the  evangel  of  the 
Saviour's  love.  I  wonder  at  the  secret,  and 
the  secret  stands  revealed.  Gethsemane  had 
its  pale  reflection  in  Susquahannah,  and  the 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      37 

"strong-crying"  Saviour  had  a  fellow  la- 
bourer in  His  agonizing  saint.  Let  me  give 
you  a  few  words  from  his  journal,  after  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  still  wet  with  the  hot 
tears  of  his  supplications  and  prayers :  "I 
think  my  soul  was  never  so  drawn  out  in  in- 
tercession for  others  as  it  has  been  this  night ; 
I  hardly  ever  so  longed  to  live  to  God,  and 
to  be  altogether  devoted  to  Him  ;  I  wanted  to 
wear  out  my  life  for  Him."  "I  wresded  for 
the  ingathering  of  souls,  for  multitudes  of 
poor  souls,  personally,  in  many  distant 
places.  I  was  in  such  an  agony,  from  sun 
half-an-hour  high  till  near  dark,  that  I  was 
wet  all  over  with  sweat ;  but  O,  my  dear 
Lord  did  sweat  blood  for  such  poor  souls :  I 
longed  for  more  compassion."  Mark  the 
words,  "  I  was  in  such  an  agony  from  sun 
half-an-hour  high  till  near  dark  !  "  May  we 
do  what  David  Brainerd  would  not  do,  may 
we  reverently  whisper  the  word  side  by  side 
with  another  and  a  greater  word,  "And 
being  in  an  agony  He  prayed  more 
earnestly."  I  say,  was  not  Susquahannah  a 
faint  echo  of  Gethsemane,  and  was  not  David 


38       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Brainerd  filling  up  "that  which  was  behind 
in  the  sufferings  of  Christ "  ?  Brethren,  all 
vital  intercession  makes  a  draught  upon  a 
man's  vitality.  Real  supplication  leaves  us 
tired  and  spent.  Why  the  Apostle  Paul, 
when  he  wishes  to  express  the  poignancy  of 
his  yearning  intercession  for  the  souls  of 
men,  does  not  hesitate  to  lay  hold  of  the 
pangs  of  labour  to  give  it  adequate  interpre- 
tation. "Ye  remember,  brethren,  our  trav- 
ail." "  My  little  children,  of  whom  I  travail 
in  birth  again  till  Christ  be  formed  in  you." 
Again  I  say,  it  was  only  the  echo  of  a 
stronger  word,  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of 
His  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied."  Are  we  in 
the  succession?  Is  intercession  with  us  a 
travail,  or  is  it  a  playtime,  a  recreation,  the 
least  exacting  of  all  things,  an  exercise  in 
which  there  is  neither  labour  nor  blood  ? 
"  The  blood  is  the  life."  Bloodless  interces- 
sion is  dead.  It  is  only  the  man  whose 
prayer  is  a  vital  expenditure,  a  sacrifice,  who 
holds  fellowship  with  Calvary,  and  "  fills  up 
that  which  is  behind  in  the  sufferings  of 
Christ." 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      39 

Here  is  another  association.  Is  it  legiti- 
mate ?  "  Master,  the  Jews  of  late  sought  to 
stone  Thee,  and  goest  Thou  thither  again  ?  " 
"  Having  stoned  Paul "  (at  Lystra)  '•  they 
drew  him  out  of  the  city  supposing  he  had 
been  dead."  And  Paul  "  returned  again  to 
Lystra  1 "  Back  to  the  stones  !  Is  that  in 
the  succession  ?  Is  not  the  Apostle  the  com- 
plement of  his  Master  ?  Is  he  not  doing  in 
Lystra  what  his  Master  did  in  Judaea  ?  Is  he 
not  filling  up  "  that  which  was  behind  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ"?  Back  to  the  stones  J 
"Master,  the  Jews  of  late  sought  to  stone 
Thee,  and  goest  Thou  thither  again  ?  "  The 
Boxers  of  late  sought  to  decimate  thee,  poor 
litde  flock,  and  goest  thou  thither  again? 
The  New  Guineans  have  butchered  thy 
Chalmers  and  thy  Tompkins,  and  goest  thou 
thither  again  ?  Mongolia  has  swallowed  thy 
men  and  thy  treasure,  and  its  prejudice  and 
its  suspicions  appear  unmoved,  and  goest 
thou  thither  again?  Thou  hast  been  tiring 
thyself  for  years,  seeking  to  redeem  this  man 
and  that  man,  and  he  treats  thee  with  indif- 
ference and  contempt,  and  goest  thou  thither 


40       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

again?  My  brethren,  are  we  familiar  with 
the  road  that  leads  back  to  the  stones?  It 
was  familiar  to  the  Aposde  Paul,  and  when 
he  trod  the  heavy  way  he  entered  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  Master's  pains,  and  knew  that  he 
"  filled  out  that  which  was  behind  of  the  suf- 
ferings "  of  his  Lord.  To  go  again  and  face 
the  stones  is  to  perpetuate  the  spirit  of  the 
Man  who  "  set  His  face  steadfastly  to  go  to 
Jerusalem,"  even  though  it  meant  derision, 
desertion,  and  the  Cross.  We  never  really 
know  our  Master  until  we  kneel  and  toil 
among  the  driving  stones.  Only  as  we  ex- 
perience the  "  fellowship  of  His  sufferings  can 
we  know  the  power  of  His  resurrection." 
There  is  a  sentence  in  David  Hill's  biography 
— that  rare,  gentle,  refined  spirit,  who  moved 
like  a  fragrance  in  his  little  part  of  China — a 
sentence  which  has  burned  itself  into  the  very 
marrow  of  my  mind.  Disorder  had  broken 
out,  and  one  of  the  rioters  seized  a  huge 
splinter  of  a  smashed  door  and  gave  him  a 
terrific  blow  on  the  wrist,  almost  breaking  his 
arm.  And  how  is  it  all  referred  to  ?  "  There 
is  a  deep  joy  in  actually  suffering  physical 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      41 

violence  for  Christ's  sake."  That  is  all !  It 
is  a  strange  combination  of  words — suffering, 
violence,  joy !  And  yet  I  remember  the 
evangel  of  the  Aposde,  "If  we  suffer  with 
Him  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him,"  and  I 
cannot  forget  that  the  epistle  which  has  much 
to  say  about  tribulation  and  loss,  has  most  to 
say  about  rejoicing  !  "As  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  abound  in  us,  so  our  consolation  also 
aboundeth  through  Christ."  "  Out  of  the 
eater  comes  forth  meat."  These  men  did  not 
shrink  from  the  labour  when  the  stones  be- 
gan to  fly.  Rebuff  was  an  invitation  to  re- 
turn !  The  strength  of  opposition  acted 
upon  them  like  an  inspiration.  Have  you 
ever  noticed  that  magnificent  turn  which  the 
Apostle  gives  to  a  certain  passage  in  his 
second  letter  to  the  Corinthians  ?  "I  will 
tarry  at  Ephesus  .  .  .  for  a  great  door 
and  effectual  is  opened  unto  me,  and  there  are 
ma7iy  adversaries  "  .^  "  There  are  many  ad- 
versaries .  .  .  I  will  tarry"!  The  majes- 
tic opposition  constitutes  a  reason  to  remain ! 
"  There  are  many  adversaries "  ;  I  will  hold 
on  I     My  brethren,  that  is  the  martyr's  road, 


42        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

and  he  who  treads  that  way  lives  the  martyr's 
life,  and  even  though  he  do  not  die  the 
martyr's  death  he  shall  have  the  martyr's 
crown.  Back  to  the  stones  !  "  It  is  the  way 
the  Master  went,"  and  to  be  found  in  that  way 
is  to  perpetuate  the  sacrificial  spirit,  and  to 
"  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ." 

To  be,  therefore,  in  the  sacrifical  succession, 
our  sympathy  must  be  a  passion,  our  inter- 
cession must  be  a  groaning,  our  beneficence 
must  be  a  sacrifice,  and  our  service  must  be 
a  martyrdom.  In  everything  there  must  be 
the  shedding  of  blood.  How  can  we  attain 
unto  it?  What  is  the  secret  of  the  sacrificial 
life  ?  It  is  here.  The  men  and  the  women 
who  willingly  and  joyfully  share  the  fellow- 
ship of  Christ's  sufferings  are  vividly  con- 
scious of  the  unspeakable  reality  of  their  own 
personal  redemption.  They  never  forget  the 
pit  out  of  which  they  have  been  digged,  and 
they  never  lose  the  remembrance  of  the  grace 
that  saved  them.  "  He  loved  me,  and  gave 
Himself  for  me  "  ;  therefore^  "  I  glory  in  tribu- 
lation ! "  "by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      43 

am  "  ;  therefore  "  I  will  very  gladly  spend  and 
be  spent !  "  The  insertion  of  the  "  therefore  " 
is  not  illegitimate :  it  is  the  implied  conjunc- 
tion which  reveals  the  secret  of  the  sacrificial 
life.  When  Henry  Martin  reached  the  shores  / 
of  India  he  made  this  entry  in  his  journal,  "  1 1 
desire  to  burn  out  for  my  God,"  and  at  the 
end  of  the  far-off  years  the  secret  of  his  grand 
enthusiasm  stood  openly  revealed.  "  Look 
at  me,"  he  said  to  those  about  him  as  he  was 
dying — "  Look  at  me,  the  vilest  of  sinners, 
but  saved  by  grace  !  Amazing  that  I  can  be 
saved  !  "  It  was  that  amazement,  wondering 
all  through  his  years,  that  made  him  such  a 
fountain  of  sacrificial  energy  in  the  service  of 
his  Lord. 

My  brethren,  are  we  in  the  succession? 
Are  we  shedding  our  blood  ?  Are  we  filling 
up  "  that  which  is  behind  in  the  sufferings  of 
Christ"?  They  are  doing  it  among  the 
heathen.  It  w^as  done  in  Uganda,  when  that 
handful  of  lads,  having  been  tortured,  and 
their  arms  cut  off,  and  while  they  were  being 
slowly  burned  to  death,  raised  a  song  of 
triumph,  and  praised  their  Saviour  in  the  fire, 


44       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

"  singing  till  their  shrivelled  tongues  refused 
to  form  the  sound."  They  are  doing  it  in 
China,  the  little  remnant  of  the  decimated 
Churches  gathering  here  and  there  upon  the 
very  spots  of  butchery  and  martyrdom,  and 
renewing  their  covenant  with  the  Lord. 
They  are  "  filling  up  that  which  is  behind  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ."  They  are  doing  it 
among  the  missionaries.  James  Hannington 
was  doing  it  when  he  wrote  this  splendidly 
heroic  word,  when  he  was  encountered  by 
tremendous  opposition  :  "I  refuse  to  be  dis- 
appointed ;  I  will  only  praise ! "  James 
Chalmers  was  doing  it  when,  after  long  years 
of  hardship  and  difficulty,  he  proclaimed  his 
unalterable  choice  :  "  Recall  the  twenty-one 
years,  give  me  back  all  its  experience,  give 
me  its  shipwrecks,  give  me  its  standings  in 
the  face  of  death,  give  it  me  surrounded  with 
savages  with  spears  and  clubs,  give  it  me 
back  again  with  spears  flying  about  me,  with 
the  club  knocking  me  to  the  ground — give  it 
me  back,  and  I  will  still  be  your  missionary  1" 
Are  we  in  the  succession  ? 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  SACRIFICE      45 

A  noble  army,  men  and  boys, 

The  matron  and  the  maid, 
Around  the  Saviour's  throne  rejoice, 

In  robes  of  light  arrayed  ; 
They  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  Heaven 

Through  peril,  toil  and  pain  ! 
O  God,  to  us  may  grace  be  given 

To  follow  in  their  train. 


Ill 

THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS 

"And  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  Me  forever." — 
HosEA  2 :  19. 

That  is  a  tenderly  beautiful  figure ;  surely 
one  of  the  sweetest  and  most  exquisite  in 
God's  Word  !  "I  will  betroth  thee  unto  Me 
forever ! "  The  communion  of  ideal  wedlock 
is  used  to  express  the  ideal  relationship  be- 
tween the  soul  and  its  Lord.  We  are  to  be 
married  unto  the  Lord  !  Look  into  the  heart 
of  it,  and  see  how  much  the  gracious  figure 
reveals. 

"  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  Me  forever." 
There  is  to  be  a  wedding  of  the  soul  and  its 
Saviour,  of  the  nation  and  its  King.  To 
bring  that  wedding  about  is  the  aim  and  pur- 
pose of  every  kind  and  type  of  Christian 
ministry.  We  are  to  labour  to  bring  souls 
into  marriage-covenant  with  their  Lord.  I 
wish  for  the  present  to  limit  my  outlook  en- 
46 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    47 

tirely  to  the  winning  of  the  children,  and 
shall  engage  your  thought  to  the  pertinent 
problem  as  to  how  they  can  be  wooed  into  a 
marriage-contract  with  the  Lord  of  glory. 
What  is  the  kind  of  wooing  that  will  lead  to 
a  wedding? 

Let  me  begin  here.  I  do  not  think  we 
greatly  help  the  cause  of  the  Lover  by  pro- 
claiming the  remoteness  of  the  Lover's  home. 
I  have  never  been  able  to  find  out  what  we 
gain  by  teaching  children  the  "  far-offness  " 
of  the  Saviour's  dwelling. 

There  is  a  happy  land 
Far,  far  away  i 

How  does  that  help  the  wooer  ? 

For  beyond  the  clouds  and  beyond  the  tomb 
It  is  there,  it  is  there,  my  child. 

I  say,  how  does  that  help  the  wooing  ?  I  am 
afraid  that  the  remoteness  of  the  home  tends 
to  create  a  conception  of  the  remoteness  of 
the  Lover;  and,  if  the  Lover  is  away,  the 
wooing  will  be  very  mechanical  and  cold. 


48        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

There's  a  Friend  for  little  children 
Above  the  bright  blue  sky. 

That  is  the  only  line  I  don't  like  in  that 
greatly  beloved  and  very  beautiful  hymn. 
In  my  childhood  it  helped  to  make  my  Sa- 
viour an  absentee,  and  He  was  "  above  the 
bright  blue  sky,"  when  I  wanted  Him  on  the 
near  and  common  earth.  I  think  that  we 
shall  perhaps  best  help  the  cause  of  the 
Wooer  if  we  teach  that  His  home  is  very 
near,  and  that  no  clouds  interpose  between 
us  and  the  place  of  His  abiding. 

There  is  a  happy  land, 
Not  far  away. 

Destroying  all  sense  of  remoteness,  we  must 
labour  to  bring  the  children  into  the  immedi- 
ate presence  of  the  Lover  Himself.  How 
shall  we  do  it  ?  What  is  there  in  the  child 
of  which  we  must  lay  hold  ?  To  what  shall 
we  make  our  appeal  ?  Ruskin  was  never 
weary  of  telling  us  that  the  two  fundamental 
virtues  in  childhood  are  reverence  and  com- 
passion, the  sympathetic  perception  of  anoth- 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    49 

er's  weakness,  and  the  venerating  regard  for 
another's  crown.  To  perceive  the  sorrows  of 
life,  and  to  maintain  a  sense  of  the  dignities 
of  life,  are  two  rare  and  choice  endowments  ; 
and,  when  these  are  exercised  upon  "  the 
Man  of  Sorrows,"  and  "  the  King  with  many 
crowns,"  the  issue  will  be  a  life  of  command- 
ing spiritual  devotion.  But  Ruskin's  analysis 
does  not  altogether,  and  quite  fittingly,  serve 
my  purpose  here.  It  is  more  to  my  purpose 
to  borrow  the  familiar  line  of  Wordsworth, 
for  his  teaching  includes  the  teaching  of 
Ruskin,  and  also  adds  to  it — "  We  live  by 
admiration,  hope,  and  love."  In  those  three 
attributes  a  man's  personality  abides.  Gain 
them,  and  you  win  the  man  !  All  the  three 
attributes  must  be  regarded  in  indissoluble 
union.  The  quality  of  each  depends  upon 
the  presence  of  all.  Strike  out  one,  and  you 
maim  and  impoverish  the  rest.  There  is  an 
imperfect  love  in  which  there  is  no  admira- 
tion. There  is  an  imperfect  admiration  in 
which  there  is  no  love.  Perfect  love  admires  ; 
perfect  admiration  loves ;  and  love  and  ad- 
miration are  ever  associated  with  the  gracious 


50        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

spirit  of  hopeful  aspiration.  These  three,  I 
say,  constitute  the  very  marrow  of  Hfe — the 
deep,  secret  springs  of  character  and  con- 
duct. "  We  live  by  admiration,  hope,  and 
love."  To  win  a  child's  love,  and  admira- 
tion, and  hope,  is  to  grip  his  entire  being,  and 
make  conquest  of  all  the  powers  of  his  soul. 
If  the  great  Lover  can  win  these,  the  wooing 
will  be  followed  by  the  wedding.  How  can 
we  so  represent  Him,  that  this  triumph  shall 
be  won? 

We  have  so  to  reveal  Jesus  to  the  children, 
that  He  captivates  their  love.  What  shall  we 
reveal  to  them?  Instinctively,  I  think,  we 
feel  that  we  must  let  them  gaze  long  at  His 
beauteous  simplicity.  We  must  reveal  Him 
handling  the  lilies  ;  we  must  strive  to  make 
it  so  real,  that  the  children,  with  their  mag- 
nificently realistic  imagination,  shall  feel  that 
they  are  with  Him  among  the  flowers  of  the 
field.  We  must  reveal  Him  watching  the 
graceful  flight  of  the  birds  of  the  air,  and  His 
peculiarly  tender  regard  for  the  common  spar- 
row. We  must  reveal  Him  pausing  to  give 
thought  to  the  hen  and  her  chickens,  and  His 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    51 

wistful  interest  in  the  sheep  and  the  sheep- 
fold.  We  must  reveal  Him  as  the  approach- 
able Jesus,  with  groups  of  little  children  clus- 
tering about  His  knees  ;  not  bored  by  them, 
not  too  great  for  their  companionship,  but 
lovingly  taking  them  into  His  arms  to  bless 
them  ;  and,  if  there  is  some  puny  weakling 
among  them,  giving  to  that  one  some  special 
caress  and  regard.  Will  these  fascinating 
simplicities,  if  vividly  revealed,  be  ineffective 
in  awaking  the  impressionable  responsive- 
ness of  a  little  child  ?  Depend  upon  it,  the 
heart  will  begin  to  thrill !  But  not  only  His 
simplicity  must  we  reveal,  but  His  sympathy 
too  !  We  must  whip  up  our  own  powers,  and 
seek  to  clearly  depict  for  the  child  the  great 
Lover's  love  for  the  weak,  the  defenseless,  the 
unloved,  and  the  abandoned. 

But  cannot  we  go  further  ?  Must  we  con- 
fine the  visions  of  the  children  to  the  simplic- 
ities and  sympathies  of  the  Lover?  Must 
we  just  keep  to  the  fireside  Jesus,  the  Jesus 
of  the  lilies,  the  farmyard,  and  the  sheepfold, 
the  good-Samaritan  Jesus,  binding  up  the 
wounds  of  the  bruised  and  broken?     Shall 


52        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

we  keep  the  children  in  the  "  green  pastures," 
and  by  "  the  still  waters,"  or  shall  we  take 
them  into  "  the  valley  of  the  shadow "  ? 
Shall  they  abide  upon  the  sunny  slopes  of 
Galilee,  and  watch  the  Lover  there,  or  shall 
we  guide  their  feet  into  Gethsemane,  and  let 
them  gaze  on  Calvary  ?  Brethren,  I  will  give 
my  own  experience  ;  at  any  rate,  it  is  one 
man's  witness,  and  represents,  I  avow,  the 
findings  of  one  who  seeks  to  woo  young  life 
into  covenant-communion  with  the  Lord.  I 
sometimes  take  my  young  people  into  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane  and  up  the  hill  of 
Calvary ;  I  do  not  do  it  frequently,  lest  the 
vm  dolorosa  should  become  a  common  way, 
and  should  be  trod  with  flippant  step ;  but 
now  and  again,  when  I  think  I  dare,  I  lead 
them  into  the  shadow  of  the  Passion,  and 
whisper  to  them  hints  of  the  awful  mystery  ! 
And  what  do  I  find?  My  brethren,  I  find 
there  is  no  wooing  Hke  that !  It  is  not  only 
for  the  reprobate,  but  also  for  the  little  child, 
that  in  the  passion  of  the  Lord  there  is  un- 
bared the  infinite  love  of  the  Lover.  There 
is  no   need   to  be  sensational.     The  sensa- 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    53 

tional  is  never  the  parent  of  fruitful  love. 
Gethsemane  was  very  quiet,  and  all  we  need 
to  do  is  to  walk  very  softly,  taking  the  chil- 
dren with  us,  and  let  them  gaze  upon  the 
Sufferer  as  He  bows  amid  the  olive-groves 
on  that  most  eventful  night.  The  spiritual 
appreciativeness  of  the  child  will  supply  the 
rest.  "  I  thank  Thee,  O  Father  .  .  . 
that  Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them 
unto  babes."  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes 
and  sucklings  hast  Thou  ordained  praise." 
I  say  there  is  no  wooing  like  this !  The 
spiritual  marriage  contract  is  most  frequently 
made  in  Gethsemane  and  at  the  Cross.  "  The 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  me." 

"  We  live  by  love."  By  "  admiration " 
too !  Our  children  must  not  only  find  in 
the  Lover  their  Saviour;  they  must  find  in 
Him  their  Hero  too.  Say  to  yourself,  "  I 
will  so  present  my  Master  as  a  Hero  as  to 
woo  the  adoring  homage  of  my  boys." 
Would  you  suffer  from  any  lack  of  matter? 
Your  eyes  are  closed  and  sealed  if  you  do 
not  see  the  heroic  glowing  upon  every  page 


54       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

of  the  sacred  story  !  His  splendid  chivalry ; 
His  tremendous  hatred  of  all  meanness  and 
sin ;  His  magnificent  "  aloneness "  in  the 
night ;  His  strenuous  refusal  of  a  popular 
crown,  when  the  sovereignty  would  mean 
compromise  with  the  powers  of  darkness ! 
Let  these  be  unfolded  with  the  same  tre- 
mendous effort  at  vivid  realization  which  we 
make  when  we  seek  to  unveil  the  heroisms 
of  a  Cromwell,  a  Howard,  or  a  Gordon,  and 
our  boys  and  girls  will  go  on  their  knees  be- 
fore the  unveiling  with  reverent  admiration 
and  homage.  "  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Christ, 
to  receive  all  honour  and  glory." 

Loving!  Admiring!  These  fair  disposi- 
tions will  be  assuredly  associated  with  the 
beautiful  genius  of  hope.  The  glorious 
Lord  will  become  the  children's  bread. 
Their  worship  will  become  their  hunger. 
Their  loving  will  become  their  longing. 
Their  admiration  will  become  their  aspira- 
tion. Their  faith  will  become  their  hope. 
They  will  be  laid  hold  of  in  all  the  fetters 
and  feelings  of  personality,  and  the  great 
Wooer  will  have  won. 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    55 

What  more  shall  we  say  about  ourselves  ? 
Let  this  be  said  :  while  we  are  employed  in 
wooing  do  not  let  us  be  heedless  as  to  the 
manner  of  our  living.  I  know  that  is  a 
great  commonplace,  but  I  know  also  that 
it  is  by  the  preservation  of  the  commonplace 
that  we  maintain  the  wholeness  and  sanity 
of  our  lives.  Those  who  woo  for  the  Master 
must  be  careful  how  they  live.  The  detec- 
tion of  inconsistency  is  fatal  to  the  reception 
of  our  message.  "  A  child  is  the  most  rigid 
exacter  of  consistency."  "  I  say  "  may  count 
for  little  or  nothing.  "  I  know  "  may  count 
for  very  little  more.  "  I  am"  is  the  incarna- 
tion which  gives  defense  and  confirmation  to 
the  Gospel,  and  reveals  the  deputy-wooer  in 
something  of  the  reflected  beauty  of  the 
glorious  Lover  Himself,  The  wooers  must 
themselves  be  won  ;  and  our  own  conquest 
must  be  proved  by  the  brightness  and  purity 
of  our  wedding  apparel  and  the  radiant  buoy- 
ancy of  our  dispositions.  I  say  the  wooers 
must  be  in  wedding  attire,  and  must  be 
"  children  of  light,"  children  of  the  morning. 
"  I  wonder  if  there  is  so  much  laughter  in 


56       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

any  other  home  in  England  as  in  ours."  So 
wrote  Charles  Kingsley  in  one  of  his  incom- 
parable letters  to  his  wife  !  That  sounds  fas- 
cinating, captivating,  there  is  the  ring  of  the 
wedding-bells  in  the  quaint  and  only  partially 
hidden  ^boast.  I  do  not  wonder  that  this 
child  of  the  morning  was  such  a  mighty 
wooer  for  his  Lord !  Let  us  beware  of  a 
forced  seriousness.  Let  us  discriminate  be- 
tween sobriety  and  melancholy.  It  was  a 
saying  of  David  Brainerd's  that  "there  is 
nothing  that  the  devil  seems  to  make  so 
great  a  handle  of  as  a  melancholy  humour." 
Let  us  distinguish  between  a  wedding  and  a 
funeral,  and  in  our  wooing  let  it  be  the 
wedding-bells  which  lend  their  music  to  our 
speech.  I  confess  that  in  the  school-teaching 
of  my  early  days  I  think  the  wooers  gave  too 
much  prominence  to  the  minor  key,  and  the 
dirge  of  melancholy  resignation  too  often  dis- 
placed the  wedding-march  of  a  triumphant 
walk  with  God. 

When  shall  we  begin  the  wooing  ?  When 
I  had  written  that  sentence  I  chanced  to  lift 
my  eyes  from  the  paper,  and  I  saw  a  tender 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  TENDERNESS    57 

fruit-sapling  just  laden  with  blossom.  At 
what  age  may  a  sapling  blossom  ?  At  what 
age  may  a  young  life  begin  to  blossom  for 
the  King?  To  revert  to  my  figure — when 
shall  we  begin  the  wooing?  Plato  said, 
"The  most  important  part  of  education  is 
right  training  in  the  nursery."  And  Ruskin 
said ,  "  When  do  you  suppose  the  education 
of  a  child  begins  ?  At  six  months  old  it  can 
answer  smile  with  smile,  and  impatience  with 
impatience."  Perhaps  we  have  to  begin  the 
wooing  even  in  the  speechless  years.  In  the 
life  of  the  Spirit  I  believe  in  early  wooings 
because  I  believe  in  early  weddings !  The 
wooing  and  the  wedding  become  increas- 
ingly difficult  when  we  pass  the  age  of 
twelve.  As  for  the  wedding  itself,  the  be- 
trothal to  the  lord,  I  would  have  it  a  very 
decisive  act.  It  must  be  a  conscious,  intelli- 
gent consecration.  The  vow  must  not  be 
made  in  thoughtlessness ;  not  in  any  bewil- 
dering and  sensational  transports.  In  the 
rapture  there  must  be  the  moderating  pres- 
ence of  serious  and  illumined  thought.  But 
mind  you,  the  act  of  decision  must  be  a  wed- 


58        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

ding  and  not  a  funeral.     It  must  be  serious 
and  yet  glad. 

I  give  my  heart  to  Thee, 

Saviour  Divine. 
For  Thou  art  all  to  me 

And  I  am  Thine. 
Is  there  on  earth  a  closer  bond  than  this 
That  my  Beloved's  mine  and  I  am  His? 


IV 

THE  DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS 

"  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men." — Matt.  4:19. 

I  WISH  to  devote  this  chapter  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  serious  work  of  watching 
for  souls.  I  do  not  presume  to  be  a  teacher 
who  has  secrets  to  unfold  ;  still  less  can  I 
claim  to  be  an  expert  in  the  great  vocation. 
I  suppose  it  is  true  of  all  preachers  that  as 
we  grow  older  our  sense  of  the  inefficiency 
of  our  work  becomes  intensified.  The  won- 
der grows  that  God  can  accomplish  so  much 
with  such  inadequate  implements.  One's 
satisfaction  with  the  evangel  deepens  with 
the  years ;  but  one  is  increasingly  discon- 
tented with  the  imperfect  way  in  which  we 
present  it.  No,  I  do  not  write  as  one  who  is 
proficient ;  I  am  only  a  blunderer  at  the  best ; 
but  I  write  as  one  who  is  honestly  desirous 
of  better  and  more  useful  equipment.  I  have 
often  been  amused  by  the  headline  to  the 
59 


6o       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

preface  in  Isaac  Walton's  "  Compleat  An- 
gler." Here  is  the  quaint  sentence :  "  To 
the  reader  of  this  discourse,  but  especially  to 
the  Honest  Angler."  And  in  this  chapter  I 
conceive  myself  as  writing,  not  to  expert 
anglers,  or  even  to  successful  anglers,  but  to 
those  who  are  *'  honest,"  and  who  are  sin- 
cerely desirous  to  become  proficient  in  their 
ministry.  More  than  two  hundred  years  ago 
there  was  a  young  probationer  in  the  Church 
of  Scotland  named  Thomas  Boston.  He  was 
about  to  preach  before  the  parish  of  Simprin. 
In  contemplation  of  the  eventful  visit  he  sat 
down  to  meditate  and  pray.  "Reading  in 
secret,  my  heart  was  touched  with  Matt. 
4 :  19 :  '  Follow  Me,  and  I  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men.'  My  soul  cried  out  for  the 
accomplishing  of  that  to  me,  and  I  was 
very  desirous  to  know  how  I  might  follow 
Christ  so  as  to  be  a  fisher  of  men,  and  for 
my  own  instruction  in  that  point  I  addressed 
myself  to  the  consideration  of  it  in  that  man- 
ner." Out  of  that  honest  and  serious  con- 
sideration there  came  that  quaint  and  spir- 
itually profound  and  suggestive  book  :     "  A 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  6i 

Soliloquy  on  the  Art  of  Man-Fishing."  All 
through  Thomas  Boston's  book  one  feels  the 
fervent  intensity  of  a  spirit  eager  to  know  the 
mind  of  God  in  the  great  matter  of  fishing 
for  souls.  Without  that  passion  our  enquiry 
is  worthless.  **  The  all-important  matter  in 
fishing  is  to  have  the  desire  to  learn." 

^■^  Now  for  the  art  of  catching  fishy  that  is  to 
say,  how  to  make  a  man — that  was  not — to  be 
an  angler  by  a  book ;  he  that  undertakes  it 
shall  undertake  a  harder  task  than  Mr. 
Hales,  a  most  valiant  and  excellent  fencer^ 
who  in  the  printed  book  called  'A  Private 
School  of  Defence^  undertook  to  teach  that  art 
or  science^  atid  was  laughed  at  for  his  labour 
— not  that  but  many  useful  things  might  be 
learned  by  that  booky  but  he  was  laughed  at 
because  that  art  was  not  to  be  taught  by 
words y  So  says  Isaac  Walton  in  his  famous 
book  on  Angling.  It  is  painfully  true.  If 
books  would  make  an  angler,  I  should  be  the 
most  expert  fisher  in  this  neighbourhood. 
On  one  of  my  shelves  there  is  quite  a  little 
collection  of  fishing  books,  out  of  which  I 
have  been  able  to  borrow  many  hints  and 


62        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

suggestions  for  my  own  particular  labour. 
I  think  I  know  them  fairly  well,  and  in  many 
of  their  chapters  could  pass  an  examination 
with  honours.  But  in  the  practical  handling 
of  the  rod  I  should  come  in  the  rear  of  the 
most  incompetent.  In  angling  I  am  a  splen- 
did theorist,  but  useless  in  practice.  Is  it  not 
here  that  we  must  begin  our  consideration 
of  the  matter  of  the  ministry  of  Christ? 
Books  cannot  make  a  preacher  ;  he  may  find 
them  full  of  helps,  but  they  are  not  creators 
of  gifts.  They  may  teach  how  to  make  ser- 
mons, but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
creation  of  prophets.  We  are  made  by 
Christ.  "  I  will  make  you."  We  are  fash- 
ioned in  His  presence.  Every  wealthy  and 
fruitful  gift  for  our  work  is  born  directly 
of  His  own  grace  and  love.  Ring  out  the 
music  of  the  changing  emphasis  in  this 
phrase !  The  promise  reveals  its  treasure 
as  each  word  is  taken  in  turn  and  given  dis- 
tinct prominence.  "  /  will  make  you  "  ;  no 
one  else  and  nothing  else  can  do  it.  Neither 
books,  nor  colleges,  nor  friends !  "I  will 
make  you "  ;  He  will  make  us  just  in  that 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  63 

secret  and  mysterious  way  in  which  true 
poetry  comes  into  being.  The  gift  will  come 
as  a  breath,  as  an  inspiration,  as  a  new  crea- 
tion. "  When  He  ascended  on  high  .  .  . 
He  gave  gifts  unto  men."  He  dropped  one 
gift  here,  and  a  commonplace  man  became  a 
pastor.  He  dropped  another  gift  there,  and 
the  undistinguished  became  a  prophet.  He 
dropped  a  third  gift  yonder,  and  an  impotent 
man  became  a  powerful  evangelist.  "  I 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men."  But  even 
though  the  germinal  gifts  of  the  preacher 
are  Christ-born  and  Christ-given,  our  Lord 
expects  us  to  reverently  and  diligently  use 
our  minds.  He  will  further  fashion  and 
enrich  His  gifts  through  our  own  alert- 
ness. The  incipient  capacity  will  be  devel- 
oped by  our  own  intelligent  observation  and 
experience.  What  can  we  learn  which  will 
foster  our  heaven-born  gift  ?  Let  us  turn  to 
the  fisher  in  natural  waters,  and  see  what 
hints  he  may  give  us  for  the  labours  in  our 
own  sphere.  What,  then,  does  the  angler 
say  to  fishers  of  men  ? 

Keep  out  of  sight !     Mark  Guy  Pearse  is 


64       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

an  expert  fisher,  and  rarely  does  a  year  pass 
without  his  paying  a  visit  to  the  rivers  of 
Northumberland.  And  he  has  more  than 
once  laid  down  what  he  considers  to  be  the 
three  essential  rules  for  all  successful  fishing, 
and  concerning  which  he  says,  "It  is  no  good 
trying  if  you  don't  mind  them.  The  first 
rule  is  this :  Keep  yourself  out  of  sight. 
And  secondly,  keep  yourself  further  out  of 
sight.  And  thirdly,  keep  yourself  further  out 
of  sight!  "  Mr.  Pearse's  counsel  is  confirmed 
by  every  fisher.  A  notable  angler,  writing 
recently  in  one  of  our  daily  papers,  summed 
up  all  his  advice  in  what  he  proclaims  a 
golden  maxim :  "  Let  the  trout  see  the 
angler  and  the  angler  will  catch  no  trout." 
Now  this  is  a  first  essential  in  the  art  of  man- 
fishing  :  the  suppression  and  eclipse  of  the 
preacher.  How  easily  we  become  obtrusive ! 
How  easily  we  are  tempted  into  self-aggres- 
sive prominence !  How  prone  we  are  to 
push  ourselves  to  the  front  of  our  work  in 
quest  of  fame  and  praise  and  glory !  The 
temptation  comes  in  a  hundred  different 
ways.     It  steals  upon  us  in  the  study  and 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  65 

spoils  our  secret  labour.  It  destroys  the  effi- 
cacy even  of  the  bait  that  we  prepare.  It 
comes  upon  us  in  the  pulpit  and  perverts  our 
■workmanship  even  when  we  are  in  the  very 
midst  of  our  work.  The  devil  secretly  whis- 
pers to  us  in  most  unctuous  flattery  :  "  That 
was  a  fine  point  you  made."  And  we  read- 
ily respond  to  the  suggestion.  And  so  the 
insidious  destruction  is  wrought.  We  don't 
stand  aside.  If  I  may  vary  my  figure,  let 
me  say  that  our  function  is  to  draw  aside  the 
curtain  and  hide  ourselves  somewhere  in  its 
robes.  Let  us  remember  that  so  soon  as  our 
people  see  the  preacher  they  will  not  take 
his  bait.  As  soon  as  we  become  prominent 
our  Lord  is  never  seen.     Keep  out  of  sight  1  /' 

Cultivate  a  mood  of  cheeriness  and  praise. 
Here  is  a  bit  of  counsel  from  an  old  book 
whose  phraseology  and  spelling  have  quite 
an  old-world  flavour  about  them.  It  is  a 
book  on  fishing.  The  writer  is  recording  the 
requisite  virtues  of  the  angler:  "  He  should 
not  be  unskillful  in  musick,  that  whensoever 
either  melancholy,  heaviness  of  his  thoughts, 
or  the  perturbations  of  his  own  fancies,  stir- 


66       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

reth  up  sadness  in  him,  he  may  remove  the 
same  with  some  godly  hymn  or  anthem,  of 
which  David  j^ives  him  ample  examples." 
Is  that  not  rather  a  far-fetched  notion  of  an 
angler's  equipment  ?  Why  should  he  require 
the  gift  of  music  ?  Because,  says  my  author, 
when  the  angler  is  depressed  he  cannot 
throw  a  light  line.  When  a  man  is  melan- 
choly his  throw  will  be  heavy.  When  his 
spirits  are  light  and  exuberant,  he  will  be 
able  to  touch  the  surface  of  the  water  with 
the  exquisite  delicacy  of  a  passing  feather. 
Can  we  not  apply  the  counsel  to  the  ministry 
of  preaching  ?  If  we  come  into  our  pulpits 
in  a  depressed  and  complaining  frame  of 
mind,  we  shall  lack  the  requisite  throw.  If 
we  are  possessed  by  melancholy  we  shall 
catch  no  fish.  And  therefore  it  is  well  that 
we,  too,  should  resort  to  the  service  of  song. 
We  must  sing  away  our  depressions  and 
melancholies  before  we  preach  the  evangel  of 
grace.  We  must  put  on  "  the  garment  of 
praise."  I  frequently  consult  a  book  given 
to  me  many  years  ago,  and  now  out  of  print : 
*'  Earnest  Christianity,"  an  account  of  the  life 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  67 

and  journal  of  the  Rev.  James  Caughey. 
There  is  much  in  that  journal  that  reminds 
me  of  Davdd  Brainerd  and  John  Wesley. 
One  day  James  Caughey  was  depressed  and 
melancholy,  full  of  lamentation  and  com- 
plaint. There  was  no  music  in  his  spirit  and 
there  was  no  power  upon  his  tongue.  He 
preached,  but  ineffectively,  because  his  words 
were  not  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  praise. 
And  then  he  took  to  the  corrective  of  prayer 
and  singing.  He  adopted  William  Law's 
counsel,  and  chanted  himself  into  lightness 
and  buoyancy  of  heart.  He  exchanged  the 
"  spirit  of  heaviness  for  the  garment  of 
praise."  And  now  mark  the  change  in  the 
diary  :  "  Easy  preaching  now.  The  sword 
has  a  new  edge,  more  apt  to  penetrate ;  more 
strength  in  my  soul's  arm  to  lay  it  round  me 
fearlessly."  That  is  the  spirit.  We  must 
address  ourselves  to  the  great  act  of  preach- 
ing in  the  exuberance  which  belongs  to  a 
thankful  and  praiseful  heart. 

Study  the  fish  !  George  Eliot  was  once 
listening  to  the  complaints  of  some  angling 
friends  as  they  were  describing  their  fruitless 


68       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

day's  work.  Looking  into  their  empty  creels 
she  said  :  "  You  should  make  a  deeper  study 
of  the  subjectivity  of  the  trout."  That  is  a 
very  suggestive  word,  and  pregnant  with 
significance  for  the  fishers  in  the  world  of 
men.  We  must  study  the  fish  that  we  may 
find  out  what  will  win  them  for  the  Lord. 
All  fish  cannot  be  caught  by  the  same  bait. 
We  must  study  the  individual  prejudices, 
and  habits  and  tastes.  We  must  discover 
what  will  catch  this  man  and  that  man,  and 
address  ourselves  accordingly.  I  was  once 
passing  through  a  little  village  in  the  Lake 
district,  and  there  was  a  card  in  the  shop 
window  which  gave  me  more  than  a  passing 
thought.  On  the  card  were  a  number  of 
artificial  flies  with  this  engaging  headline  : 
"  Flies  with  which  to  catch  fish  in  this  local- 
ity." The  shopkeeper  had  nothing  to  say 
about  the  requirements  of  the  Midlands.  He 
had  studied  the  characteristics  of  the  fish  in 
his  own  neighbourhood,  and  he  had  discov- 
ered what  bait  provided  the  best  allurement. 
We  preachers  must  do  it  in  our  own  local- 
ities.    It  was   the   practice   of   the   Apostle 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  69 

Paul  :  "  To  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew  that 
I  might  gain  the  Jews."  He  became  "all 
things  to  all  men  that  he  might  gain  some." 
He  baited  his  hook  according  to  the  fish  he 
wanted  to  catch.  I  don't  think  we  should 
fish  with  the  same  hook  for  Lydia  and  the 
Philippian  jailer.  It  may  be  that  we  shall 
discover  that  a  sermon  will  never  effect  the 
purpose.  We  may  find  out  that  a  letter  will 
do  infinitely  better  work.  Or  it  may  be  that 
a  direct  talk  may  be  the  requisite  constraint. 
Or,  again,  it  may  be  that  a  long  conversa- 
tion, apparently  indirect  and  aimless,  but 
quietly  dropping  one  delicate  hint,  may  win 
a  soul  for  Christ.     Study  the  fish  ! 

Learn  from  other  fishermen  !  Other  men 
will  never  make  us  fishers,  but  they  may 
make  us  better  fishers.  If  we  have  the  rudi- 
mentary gift  their  experience  may  help  to 
enrich  it.  Let  us  turn  to  the  expert  fisher- 
men and  see  if  their  ways  and  methods  can 
give  us  helpful  counsel.  John  Wesley  was  a 
great  fisher,  can  we  learn  anything  from 
him  ?  Dr.  Alexander  Whyte  has  told  us 
how  he  has  made  a  patient  and  laborious 


70       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

study  of  John  Wesley's  journals  for  the  pur- 
pose of  classifying  all  the  texts  upon  which 
the  great  preacher  built  his  evangel.  Is  not 
that  a  splendid  discipline  for  any  one  who 
wishes  to  become  skillful  in  the  great  minis- 
try ?  What  did  Wesley  preach  about  ?  And 
how  did  he  fit  his  message  to  the  changing 
circumstances  of  his  varying  spheres  ?  The 
Salvation  Army  has  a  great  body  of  expert 
fishers.  They  lack  many  things,  but  they 
catch  fish.  How  do  they  do  it  ?  We  may 
dislike  many  of  their  ways,  but  what  is  it  in 
their  ministry  which  enables  them  to  win 
multitudes  for  the  Lord  ?  What  was  the 
secret  of  Finney  and  Moody  ?  And  what  is 
it  about  Torrey  which  constrains  the  people 
to  become  disciples  of  the  Christ  ?  Let  us 
set  about  this  investigation  like  men  who 
wish  to  do  great  business  for  the  Lord.  Let 
us  eagerly  pick  up  any  hints  which  these 
highly  endowed  and  experienced  men  may 
be  able  to  give  us. 

*'  It  is  a  great  matter  to  take  a  trout  early 
in  your  trial.  It  gives  one  more  heart.  It 
seems  to  keep  one  about  his  business.     Other- 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  71 

wise  you  are  apt  to  fall  into  unproductive 
reverie y  I  know  no  word  more  closely  ap- 
plicable to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  If  we 
do  not  catch  men  we  are  in  great  danger  of 
losing  even  the  desire  to  catch  them.  Our 
purposed  activity  is  in  peril  of  becoming  a 
dream.  Let  me  counsel  my  fellow  preachers 
in  the  lay  ministry  to  make  up  their  minds  to 
catch  one  soul,  to  go  about  it  day  and  night 
until  the  soul  is  won.  And  when  they  have 
gained  one  man  for  the  Master  I  have  then 
no  fear  as  to  what  will  be  their  resultant 
mood.  The  joy  of  catching  a  soul  is  un- 
speakable !  When  we  have  got  one  soul  we 
become  possessed  by  the  passion  for  souls. 
Get  one  and  you  will  want  a  crowd!  And 
let  me  say  this  further  word.  Keep  a  list  of 
the  names  of  the  souls  you  win  for  the  King, 
and  if  on  any  day  you  are  apt  to  be  cast 
down,  and  the  lightness  and  buoyancy  go 
out  of  your  spirit,  bring  out  that  list  and  read 
it  over,  and  let  the  contemplation  of  those 
saved  lives  set  your  heart  a-singing  and  in- 
spire you  to  fresh  and  more  strenuous  work. 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  lists  of  the  Lord's 


72        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

mercies  by  which  to  drive  away  the  clouds  in 
a  day  of  adversity.  Let  your  labour  be  di- 
rected to  the  immediate  catching  of  men  for 
the  Lord.  "It  is  a  great  matter  to  take  a 
trout  early  in  your  trial." 

And  now  I  will  close  this  meditation  by 
offering  a  suggestion  which  I  obtained  from 
an  advertisement  in  an  anglers'  paper  some 
time  ago.  "  Now  is  the  time  for  your  old 
favourite  rods  to  be  overhauled  and  treated 
with  a  steel  tonic  that  will  not  fail  to  work 
wonders  in  the  way  of  renewing  their 
strength."  And  following  this  advertise- 
ment came  this  confirmatory  testimonial : 
"I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  that  a  very 
whippy  gig-whip  of  a  rod  has  been  converted 
into  a  powerful  weapon."  My  hearers  will 
immediately  perceive  the  spiritual  signifi- 
cance of  the  words.  There  are  times  when 
we  need  the  "  steel  tonic  "  in  order  that  our 
poor  ministries  may  be  converted  into  power- 
ful weapons.  And,  blessed  be  God,  we  have 
the  promise  of  this  redemptive  work  in  the 
very  names  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  re- 
vealed to  us.     He  is  called  the  Renewer,  the 


DISCIPLE  WATCHING  FOR  SOULS  73 

Reviver,  the  Restorer  of  souls,  and  by  His 
baptism  the  poorest,  weakest  agent  can  be 
turned  into  a  powerful  weapon.  "  They  that 
wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their 
strength."  Let  us  turn  to  our  Lord  this  very 
night,  and  seek  for  that  renewal  in  the 
strength  of  which  we  shall  turn  to  our  work 
with  multiplied  possibility,  and  with  perfect 
assurance  of  success. 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION 

"  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  when  ye  believed  ? 
And  they  said  unto  him,  Nay,  we  did  not  so  much  as 
hear  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given." — Acts 
19:  1-3. 

"  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  when  ye 
believed  ? "  Why  did  he  put  the  anxious 
question  ?  Were  there  some  ominous  signs 
of  impoverishment  which  aroused  this  pain- 
ful wonder  ?  Did  he  miss  something  ?  He 
certainly  did  not  suspect  the  reality  and  sin- 
cerity of  their  faith.  The  separation  of  this 
little  body  of  twelve  men  from  the  mighty 
drift  and  popular  fashion  of  Ephesian  life  was 
itself  an  all-sufficient  proof  that  they  were 
moving  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  And  yet  to 
the  Apostle's  trained  and  discerning  eye 
there  was  something  lacking  !  I  know  not 
what  were  the  signs  which  stirred  his  solici- 
tude. Perhaps  it  was  the  large  care-lines 
ploughed  so  deeply  upon  their  faces.  Per- 
74 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     75 

haps  it  was  a  certain  slow  heaviness  in  their 
walk,  or  a  certain  stale  flatness  in  their  inter- 
course. Perhaps  it  was  a  look  of  defeat  in 
their  tired  eyes — the  expression  of  exhausted 
reserves,  the  lack  of  exuberance,  the  want  of 
a  swinging  and  jubilant  optimism.  Perhaps 
it  was  the  absence  of  the  bird-note  from  their 
religious  life.  I  know  not  what  the  signs  may- 
have  been,  but  some  conspicuous  gap 
yawned  before  the  Apostle's  penetrating  vi- 
sion, which  prompted  him  to  ask  this  trem- 
bling, searching  question,  "  Did  ye  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost  when  ye  believed  ? "  And  the 
half-spent  and  wearied  souls  replied,  "  Nay, 
we  did  not  so  much  as  hear  whether  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  given ! "  How  imperfect  their 
equipment  1  How  inadequate  their  re- 
sources 1  They  were  resisting  the  day's  drift 
with  a  quite  insufificient  endowment.  They 
were  endeavouring  to  counteract  and  trans- 
form the  fashion  of  the  world  with  quite  infe- 
rior dynamics.  I  know  that  mighty  dynamics 
can  work  along  the  flimsiest  threads,  and  I 
know  that  the  heavenly  powers  can  operate 
through  the  slenderest  faith ;  but  there  is  an 


76       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

unenlightened,  a  non-vigilant,  a  non-ex- 
pectant attitude  of  mind  which  negatives  the 
divine  ministry,  which  impedes  the  inflow  of 
the  divine  power,  and  which  reduces  the  soul 
to  comparative  weakness  and  impoverishment. 
The  day  of  Penetecost  had  come ;  the  marvel- 
lous promises  had  been  fulfilled  ;  the  wonder- 
ministry  had  begun  ;  but  these  disciples  were 
still  in  the  pre-Pentecostal  days :  they  were 
behind  the  spiritual  times  !  "  We  did  not  so 
much  as  hear  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
given."  And  if  you  would  discover  what  it 
means  for  men  to  step  from  pre-Pentecostal 
dearth  to  Pentecostal  fullness,  you  must  com- 
pare the  earlier  atmosphere  of  this  incident 
with  the  atmosphere  of  its  close,  and  you  will 
find  how  these  weary,  labouring  men,  heavy- 
footed,  heavy-minded,  with  slow  and  stam- 
mering lips,  are  transformed  into  nimble, 
buoyant,  and  resourceful  servants  of  the 
Lord.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  them, 
and  they  spake  with  the  tongues  and  proph- 
esied." : 

But  what  is  the  relevancy  of  all  this  to  our 
own  time?     The  precise  lineaments  of  this 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     77 

incident  are  not  repeated  to-day.  No  such 
impoverishing  ignorance  prevails  among  the 
modern  disciples.  We  know  that  the  Holy- 
Ghost  has  been  given.  We  know  !  Ah,  I 
am  using  a  New  Testament  word,  and  I 
must  attach  to  it  the  wealth  of  New  Testa- 
ment significance.  We  may  "  know,"  in  the 
way  of  cognition :  a  bare  act  of  the  intelli- 
gence ;  a  merely  mental  acquisition.  And  we 
may  "  know,"  in  the  way  of  a  living  fellow- 
ship, by  the  intimate  discernments  of  com- 
munion, by  the  delights  and  satisfactions  of 
the  soul,  by  real  and  practical  experience. 
As  a  matter  of  cognition,  of  merely  mental 
enlightenment,  we  may  live  in  the  spacious 
days  of  Pentecost ;  but  in  daily  usage  and 
common  experience  we  may  be  living  in  the 
leaner  and  straitened  days  which  preceded  it. 
I  am  deeply  persuaded  that,  judged  experi- 
mentally by  our  daily  life  and  practice,  much 
of  the  mental  attitude  and  spiritual  pose  of 
the  modern  Church  is  pre-Pentecostal,  and 
that  in  this  thin  and  immature  relationship  is 
to  be  found  the  secret  of  our  common  weari- 
ness and  impotence.     This  is  the  relevancy 


78       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

of  the  ancient  incident :  Do  we  share  their 
mental  temper,  their  spiritual  standpoint,  their 
angle  of  vision  ?  Are  we  a  litde  band  of  pil- 
grims, laboriously  toiling  over  desert  sands, 
with  now  and  again  the  privilege  of  standing 
upon  some  Pisgah  height  and  wistfully  gaz- 
ing upon  the  promised  land  afar,  or  are  we  in 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  goodly 
land,  "  a  land  that  flows  with  milk  and  honey  "  ? 
Are  we  still  on  the  road,  or  have  we  arrived? 
Are  our  religious  thinking  and  experience  up- 
to-date,  or  are  we  behind  the  spiritual  times? 
If  I  go  into  one  of  our  assemblies  of  praise 
I  find  that  we  are  still  "  tarrying  at  Jerusalem," 
waiting  for  "  the  Promise  of  the  Father." 
We  are  busy  invoking  instead  of  receiving, 
busy  asking  rather  than  using.  If  I  listen 
to  the  phraseology  of  the  hymns  I  discover 
that  the  outlook  of  the  soul  is  frequently  pre- 
Pentecostal : — 

Father,  glorify  Thy  Son  : 
Answering  His  all-powerful  prayer, 

Send  that  Intercessor  down. 

Send  that  other  Comforter  ! 
Descend  with  all  Thy  gracious  powers ; 

O  come,  great  Spirit,  come  ! 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     79 

I  think  that  if  the  Apostle  Paul  were  to 
visibly  enter  our  assembly  when  we  are  sing- 
ing these  strained  and  fervid  supplications 
he  would  wonderingly  and  anxiously  ask : 
"  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  when  ye 
believed?"  He  would  wonder  that  men 
should  plead  for  a  Presence  when  the 
Presence  Himself  is  pleading  to  be  re- 
ceived 1  He  would  wonder  that  men  should 
continue  the  strains  of  the  exile  when  the 
native  air  is  about  their  souls !  When  I 
listen  to  some  of  our  prayers,  and  mark  the 
pose  and  inclination  of  the  soul,  and  note  its 
uncertain  longings,  its  timid  askings,  its 
trembling  waiting  for  an  event  which  has 
happened,  its  sighing  for  a  gift  that  is  al- 
ready given,  I  can  scarcely  realize  that  the 
One  with  whom  we  are  dealing  is  "  a  gra- 
cious willing  Guest,  where  He  can  find  one 
humble  heart  wherein  to  rest."  The  attitude 
is  pre-Pentecostal  ;  it  is  the  language  of  the 
wilderness ;  it  is  not  "  one  of  the  songs  of 
Zion!" 

But  when  I  look  a  little  more  deeply  at 
this   mental   temper,   and   investigate   more 


8o       THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

closely  the  nature  of  its  conception,  I  find 
that  we  are  still  more  profoundly  allied  with 
the  imperfect  mood  and  inclination  of  the 
pre-Pentecostal  day.  Is  it  native  to  the 
Christian  inheritance  that  we  should  so 
commonly  conceive  of  the  Spirit  as  an  in- 
fluence, a  force,  an  energy,  an  atmosphere, 
an  impersonal  breath  ?  I  know  the  limita- 
tions of  the  human  mind,  and  I  know  the 
fertile  and  helpful  ministry  of  simile  and 
symbol.  I  know  how  inclined  we  are  to 
dwell  in  the  realm  of  effects,  and  to  express 
those  very  effects  in  the  shrines  of  figurative 
speech.  It  is  beautiful  and  true  to  speak  of 
some  gracious  influence  upon  the  soul  by 
the  imagery  of  a  wind,  or  a  fire,  or  of  light, 
or  of  dew,  or  of  rain.  I  say  it  is  a  beautiful 
and  a  helpful  ministry ;  but  if  this  be  the 
predominant  characteristic  of  our  thinking 
we  are  pre-Pentecostal  men  and  women,  and 
we  are  self-deprived  of  the  strength  and 
glory  of  our  larger  and  richer  day.  The 
all-encompassing  glory  of  the  Christian  day 
is  this — that  we  are  dealing,  not  with  an 
energy,  but   with  a  Person — not  with  "it," 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     8i 

but  with  "  Him "  !  Now,  see  our  danger. 
We  are  living  in  a  time  when  men  are  busy- 
reducing  all  phenomena  beneath  the  cate- 
gories of  definite  law  and  order.  No  phenom- 
enon is  now  regarded  as  a  lawless  vagrant, 
the  sport  of  a  sad  or  happy  chance,  wander- 
ing as  chartered  libertine  through  the  mighty- 
wastes  of  space.  Everything  pays  obeisance 
to  law.  And  so,  too,  in  the  realm  of  the 
spirit,  we  are  busy  eliminating  chance  and 
caprice ;  we  are  taking  the  tides  of  ambi- 
tion, the  gusts  of  passion,  the  movements  of 
desire,  and  the  kindlings  of  love,  and  we  are 
reducing  them  to  the  dominion  of  sovereign 
law.  We  are  seeing  more  and  more  clearly 
that  things  are  not  erratic  and  lawless  just 
because  they  are  spiritual  and  ethereal,  and 
that  "  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus  "  is  as  constant  as  the  laws  that  breathe 
in  the  material  world.  Well,  all  this  is  wise 
and  good  and  inevitable.  Only  let  us  see  to 
it  that  we  do  not  so  far  bow  to  a  tendency  as 
to  enthrone  a  law  in  place  of  a  Companion, 
and  exalt  a  force  in  place  of  a  Counsellor 
and    Friend.      We   shall   lose   unspeakably, 


82        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

and  miss  the  fine  fervour  and  flavour  of 
Apostolic  life,  if  our  larger  knowledge  of  law 
attenuates  our  fellowship  with  a  Person,  and 
our  greater  familiarity  with  forces  impair  our 
intimacy  with  the  immediate  heart  of  God. 
"  A  something  not  ourselves  that  makes  for 
righteousness  "  may  be  a  notable  expression  of 
scientific  thought,  but  it  is  not  the  language 
of  religion.  "A  something  not  ourselves 
that  makes  for  righteousness,"  when  trans- 
lated into  religious  speech,  becomes  "a 
Friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother," 
and  when  translated  into  the  New  Testament 
evangel  it  becomes  "  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Our  fellowship  is  not  with  a 
"something"  but  with  a  "Somebody,"  not 
with  a  force  but  with  a  Spirit,  not  with  "it" 
but  with  "Him"! 

It  is  just  here,  I  think,  that  Keswick  is 
contributing  a  vital  emphasis  to  the  thought 
of  the  modern  Church.  I  do  not  identify 
myself  with  all  the  mental  methods  and  in- 
struments of  Keswick.  I  think  its  Old  Tes- 
tament exegesis  is  often  fanciful.  I  think  its 
symbolisms  are  often  forced  and  artificial.     I 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     83 

think  it  has  often  laboured  to  erect  doctrinal 
structures    upon    a    tabernacle-pin   when   it 
could  have  found  a  much  more  satisfactory 
base.     I  think  it  has  shown  a  littie  timidity 
in  the  application  of  its  dynamic  in  the  wider 
fields  of  social  and  national  life.     But  even 
these  are  criticisms  which  are  directed  more 
at  yesterday  than  at  the  life  and  teaching  of 
to-day.     The    all-predominant    teaching    of 
Keswick  is  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  the  wonderful  and  glorious  privilege  of 
the  Christian  believer  to  have  holy  and  inti- 
mate  companionship   with   Him.     They  do 
not  deal  with  an  influence,  they  walk  with  a 
Friend  !     There  is  nothing  new  in  the  teach- 
ing ;  it  is  only  the  recovery  of  an  emphasis, 
with  this  further  uniqueness,  that  while  so 
many  of  us  are  contented  with  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  fellowship  they  are  busy  in  the 
enjoyment  of  it,  and  about  their  lives  there  is 
a  strength,  and  a  serenity,  and  a  flavour,  and 
a  fragrance,  which   mark  them  off  from  the 
harassed,    restless,   feverish    world   they   are 
seeking  to  redeem.     I  miss  this  glaring  con- 
trast between  the   Church  and  the  world  i 


84        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

The  saved  are  too  much  like  the  unsaved ; 
the  physician  is  labouring  under  the  disease 
of  his  patient ;  there  is  no  outstanding  and 
commanding  difference ;  we  do  not,  with 
sufficient  legibleness,  bear  God's  name  "in 
our  foreheads."  What  is  the  reason  ?  Is  it 
that  we  are  not  long  enough  in  His  company 
to  receive  the  imprint  of  the  fair  and  gracious 
seal  ?  Is  it  that  we  are  having  mental  com- 
merce with  an  "  it "  instead  of  ceaseless  com- 
munion with  "  Him  "  ?  I  declare  my  own 
conviction  that  here  is  the  secret  of  much 
of  our  impoverishment.  We  are  living  too 
much  as  men  lived  before  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  given.  We  have  not  occupied  the  new 
and  far-stretching  land  of  Christian  privilege. 
We  have  not  seized  upon  our  inheritance  of 
august  and  holy  companionship,  and,  there- 
fore, many  of  the  gifts  and  graces  and  per- 
fumes of  the  Apostolic  age  are  absent  from 
our  modern  religious  life. 

You  cannot,  by  fellowship  with  an  energy, 
produce  that  exquisite  little  flower  called 
'*  heart' s-ease,"  which  was  so  prolific  and 
abounding  in  the  life  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     85 

The  prophet  of  the  Old  Testament  hints  at 
the  coming  of  the  flower  in  his  illumined 
phrase,  "  He  that  believeth  shall  not  make 
haste "  !  What  a  word  for  our  own  day  I 
He  shall  not  get  excited,  become  fussy,  or  be 
thrown  into  panic !  "  He  shall  not  make 
haste"!  There  shall  be  progress  without 
much  perspiration  !  There  shall  be  strenu- 
ousness  without  strain  !  There  shall  be  run- 
ning without  panting  1  "  They  shall  run  and 
not  be  weary,  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint." 
They  shall  be  fed  with  "  hidden  manna." 
In  the  very  midst  of  turbulence  shall  heart's- 
ease  grow.  "  He  that  believeth  shall  not 
make  haste." 

O  blessed  life  !  the  heart  at  rest 
When  all  without  tumultuous  seems  ! 

I  say  you  cannot  grow  that  flower  in  cooper- 
ation with  an  influence  or  a  force,  but  only  in 
the  strength  and  grace  of  a  glorious  compan- 
ionship. It  is  not  the  product  of  an  energy  : 
it  is  born  of  a  communion.  It  is  "  peace  in 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Do  you  see  much  of  this 
flower  called  "  heart' s-ease  "  about  to-day  ? 


86        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

When  the  world  gazes  upon  us,  the  professed 
disciples  of  the  Master,  does  it  see  just  a 
reflection  of  itself,  its  own  wear  and  tear,  its 
own  strain  and  worry,  or  does  it  stoop  to 
gaze  upon  a  rare  flower,  and  to  wonder  and 
to  inquire  about  the  soil  in  which  it  was 
grown  ?  Is  there  anything  about  our  speech 
and  behaviour  to  suggest  that  "wear  and 
tear "  are  counteracted  by  a  secret  renewal, 
the  renewal  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  "  the  inward 
man  being  renewed  day  by  day  "  ?  Speak- 
ing for  myself,  I  have  to  say  that  even  when 
for  a  day  I  enter  upon  my  inheritance,  and 
realize  the  ineffable  nearness  of  the  great 
Companion-Spirit,  the  strain  not  only  goes 
out  of  my  mind  and  heart,  but  I  feel  the  very 
wrinkles  and  care-lines  being  smoothed  out 
of  my  face.  If  we  were  children  of  Pente- 
cost, living  up  to  our  spiritual  times,  heart' s- 
ease  would  bloom  just  within  our  gate,  and 
the  weary  wayfarer  would  be  stopped  by  its 
perfume,  and  would  question  us  as  to  the 
secret  and  manner  of  its  growth. 

You   cannot,  by  fellowship  with   a  force, 
produce  the  exquisite  grace  of  Apostolic  ten- 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     87 

derness.  Have  you  ever  studied  the  strength 
and  softness  of  ApostoHc  tenderness  ?  Why, 
their  very  rebukes  and  severities  emerge 
from  their  tendernesses  1  Mark  the  tenor 
and  order  of  this  Apostolic  counsel :  "  Full  of 
goodness,  filled  with  all  knowledge,  able  also 
to  admonisJi'^  I  Do  you  see  where  admoni- 
tion has  to  be  born  ?  Who  is  to  be  the 
monitor  ?  One  "  filled  with  all  knowledge  "  ! 
Back  still  further !  "  Full  of  goodness ! " 
Who  would  not  be  helped  by  admonition 
which  came  clothed  in  this  tender  bloom  ? 
But  see  again  :  "  Admonishing  one  another 
in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  "  ; 
and  even  this  singing  monitor  has  first  of  all 
to  "  put  on  a  heart  of  compassion "  !  All 
this  tenderness  is  not  the  softness  of  weak- 
ness ;  it  is  the  bloom  of  strength,  and  is  born 
of  the  refining  and  chastening  ministry  of  a 
great  Companionship.  We  cannot  live  in 
the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  without 
our  unnecessary  asperities  being  smoothed 
away  ;  the  very  power  of  the  fellowship  sub- 
dues them  into  tenderness.  And,  my  breth- 
ren, there  must  never  have  been  a  time  when 


88        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

it  was  more  needful  to  ensure  this  tenderness 
than  to-dayo  In  these  days  of  hard  contro- 
versy we  must  beware  of  becoming  hard. 
Men  who  become  hard  lose  the  power  to  in- 
flict hard  blows.  The  most  tremendous  an- 
tagonist is  the  man  who  is  inherently  tender. 
The  only  overwhelming  anger  is  "  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamb."  No,  my  brethren  ;  we  can- 
not fight  without  it !  We  cannot  preach 
without  it !  You  may  perhaps  remember 
how  Andrew  Bonar  and  Robert  M'Cheyne 
were  having  one  of  their  frequent  walks  to- 
gether, talking  over  the  ways  of  their  minis- 
try, when  "  M'Cheyne  asked  me,"  says  Bonar, 
"  what  my  last  Sabbath's  subject  had  been. 
It  had  been :  *  The  wicked  shall  be  turned 
into  hell,'  On  hearing  this  awful  text,  he 
asked:  'Were  you  able  to  preach  it  with 
tenderness?'"  Shall  we  repeat  Robert 
M'Cheyne's  question  to  one  another?  When 
we  speak  on  the  destiny  of  the  sinful,  or  on 
any  one  of  the  awful  severities  of  the  Word, 
are  we  "able  to  preach  it  with  tenderness," 
with  a  melting  heart,  with  secret  tears? 
They  say  that   M'Cheyne's   severities  were 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     89 

terrific,  they  were  so  tender!  And  I  do  not 
wonder  at  his  tenderness,  for  he  lived  en- 
folded in  the  companionship  of  the  Holy- 
Ghost.  He  was  ever  holding  converse  with 
Him,  and  how  could  he  become  hard? 
"Oh,"  said  his  domestic  servant;  "oh!  to 
hear  Mr.  M'Cheyne  at  prayers  in  the  mornin' ! 
It  was  as  if  he  would  never  gi'e  ower ;  he  had 
sae  muckle  to  ask."  How  could  he  become 
hard,  abiding  in  a  Companionship  which  was 
forever  communicating  to  him  the  very  gen- 
deness  of  God  ?  You  will  not  get  that  ex- 
quisite sensitiveness  from  a  force;  you  will 
get  it  only  from  an  intimate  Friend.  "Thy 
genUeness  hath  made  me  great"  : — 

Tender  Spirit,  dwell  with  me, 
I  myself  would  tender  be  : 
And  with  words  that  help  and  heal, 
Would  Thy  life  in  mine  reveal ; 
And  with  actions  brotherly, 
Speak  my  Lord's  sincerity. 

And  let  me  add  this  further  word.  There 
is  a  certain  compulsory  impressiveness  of 
character  which  attaches  to  profound  spir- 
ituality, and  which  is  commandingly  present 


90        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

in  those  who  walk  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  I  know  not  how  to  define  it. 
It  is  a  certain  convincing  aroma,  self-witness- 
ing, like  the  perfume  of  a  flower.  It  is  inde- 
pendent of  mental  equipment,  and  it  makes 
no  preference  between  a  plenteous  and  a 
penurious  estate.  It  works  without  the  aid 
of  speech  because  it  is  the  effluence  of  a 
silent  and  secret  communion.  It  begins  to 
minister  before  you  preach  ;  it  continues  its 
ministry  when  the  sermon  is  ended.  It  is 
endowed  with  marvellous  powers  of  compul- 
sion, and  it  sways  the  lives  of  others  when 
mere  words  would  miserably  fail.  The  pit- 
man away  yonder  in  the  county  of  Durham 
felt  the  strength  of  this  mystic  constraint 
when  he  said  of  his  old  vicar,  "You  have 
only  to  shake  that  man's  hand  to  feeLthat-he 
is  fnn_onJTe  Hnlv  Ghost"  !  And  his  fellow 
in  toil,  an  agricultural  labourer  in  a  not  dis- 
tant village,  was  bowing  beneath  the  same 
persuasion  when,  speaking  of  another,  he 
said,  'T  never  saw  that  man  cross  the  com- 
mon, sir,  without  being  the  better  for  it"  ! 
What  is  it,  this  mysterious  influence  ?     It  is 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION     91 

this:  "He  that  believeth  on  Me,  as  the 
Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall 
flow  rivers  of  living  water.  But  this  spake 
He  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believed  in 
Him  were  to  receive,  for  the  Spirit  was  not 
yet  given,  because  Jesus  was  not  yet  glori- 
fied." Then  it  was  not  the  vicar  whom  the 
pitman  felt,  but  the  vicar's  great  Companion ; 
it  was  not  the  man  who  crossed  the  common, 
but  the  man's  inseparable  Guest  and  Friend. 
My  brethren,  Jesus  is  now  glorified !  The 
Holy  Ghost  has  been  given  1  We,  too,  may 
cross  our  common,  and  by  the  very  crossing 
make  men  better :  for  in  the  prayerful  foster- 
ing of  a  conscious  friendship  with  Him  the 
"rivers  of  living  water"  will  flow  from  you 
and  me. 

I  have  been  leading  you  among  the  rudi- 
ments of  our  religious  faith  and  life.  I  make 
no  apology.  "  We  must  need  to  learn  the 
things  we  have  known  the  longest."  Why 
should  a  man  apologize  for  leading  his  fellows 
to  the  running  waters  and  the  bracing  air 
of  the  open  moor  ?  We  are  infinitely  richer 
than  we  dream.     Ours  is  the  Pentecostal  in- 


92        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

heritance.  Let  us  assume  the  Pentecostal 
attitude  of  zealous  and  hungry  reception. 
Above  all,  let  us  cultivate  a  sensitive  inti- 
macy with  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  listen  to 
Him,  let  us  talk_to_Hlm.  let  us  consult  Him 
in  all  the  changing^a^orisjof_thexhanging 
days,  and  let  us  greedily  receive  His  proffered 
gifts  of  enlightenment  and  grace.  He  will  be 
our  all-sufficiency,  and  we  shall  move  about 
in  the  enduement  of  Pentecostal  power. 

A  little  while  ago  I  had  a  day-dream,  one 
of  those  subjective  visions  which  sometimes 
visit  the  mind  in  seasons  of  wakeful  medita- 
tion and  serious  thought.  I  was  in  my  study 
in  the  early  morning,  before  the  day's  work 
was  begun,  and  I  was  somewhat  sadly  con- 
templating the  comparative  weakness  of  my 
ministry  and  the  many  shortcomings  in  my 
personal  life.  And  while  I  pondered,  with 
closed  eyes,  I  became  aware  of  a  Presence 
before  whom  my  spirit  bowed  in  trembling 
awe.  He  lifted  my  garments,  and  I  saw  that 
they  were  badly  stained.  He  went  away,  and 
came  again,  and  again  He  lifted  my  robes, 
and  began  to  remove  the  stains,  and  I  saw 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  COMPANION    93 

that  He  was  using  the  ministry  of  blood. 
And  then  He  touched  my  lips,  and  they  be- 
came pure  as  the  lips  of  a  little  child.  And 
then  He  anointed  mine  eyes  with  eye-salve, 
and  I  knew  He  was  giving  sight  to  the  blind. 
Then  He  breathed  upon  my  brow,  and  my 
depression  passed  away  like  a  morning 
cloud.  And  I  wondered  what  next  my 
august  Companion  would  do,  and  with  the 
eyes  and  ears  of  my  spirit  I  watched  and 
listened.  Then  He  took  a  pen,  and  putting 
it  into  my  hand  He  said,  "  Write,  for  1  will 
take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them 
unto  thee."  And  I  turned  to  my  desk  and  I 
wrote  in  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 


VI 

THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST 

"  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  'J  ake  My  yoke  upon 
you  and  learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls." — 
Matt,  ii  :  28,  29. 

"  I  WILL  give  you  rest."  Give !  This 
kind  of  rest  is  always  a  gift ;  it  is  never 
earned.  It  is  not  the  emolument  of  toil ;  it  is 
the  dowry  of  grace.  It  is  not  the  prize  of  en- 
deavour, its  birth  precedes  endeavour,  and  is 
indeed  the  spring  and  secret  of  it.  It  is  not 
the  perquisite  of  culture,  for  between  it  and 
culture  there  is  no  necessary  and  inevita- 
ble communion.  It  broods  in  strange  and 
illiterate  places,  untouched  by  scholastic 
and  academic  refinement,  but  it  abides  also 
in  cultured  souls  which  have  been  chas- 
tened by  the  manifold  ministry  of  the 
schools.  It  is  not  a  work,  but  a  fruit; 
94 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  95 

not  the  product  of  organization,  but  the 
sure  and  silent  issue  of  a  relationship. 
"  Come  unto  Me,  .  .  .  and  I  will  give 
you  rest." 

But  even  the  gift  of  rest  does  not  disclose 
its  unutterable  contents  in  a  day.  It  is  an 
immediate  gift,  but  it  is  also  a  continuous 
discovery.  "  Learn  of  Me,  .  .  .  and  ye 
shall  find  rest."  Part  of  "  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love 
Him  "  lie  in  this  wealthy  gift  of  rest,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  frequent  and  delightful  sur- 
prises of  grace  that  we  should  repeatedly 
come  upon  new  and  unexpected  veins  of 
ore  in  this  deep  mine  of  "the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  all  understanding."  I  say 
that  the  rest  of  the  Lord  is  an  immediate 
gift  and  a  perpetual  discovery.  "  Come  unto 
Me,  .  .  o  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
"  Learn  of  Me  .  .  .  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  souls." 

And  so  I  am  to  speak  to  you  of  the  riches 
of  the  Christian  rest.  Do  you  feel  it  to  be 
an  irrelevant  note,  an  inappropriate  theme, 
in    the   march   and   warfare   of   our   times? 


96        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Surely,  we  need  to  speak  of  battle-fields 
rather  than  of  green  pastures,  and  to  hear 
the  nerving  call  to  struggle  and  duty  rather 
than  the  soft  and  gentle  wooings  that  call  to 
rest !  Our  times  demand  the  warrior's  bugle- 
peal,  and  not  the  shepherd's  pipe  of  peace! 
Ah,  but,  brethren,  in  this  warfare  the  trump- 
eter himself  is  shorn  of  inspiration  unless  he 
have  the  gift  of  rest,  and  the  warrior  himself 
is  rendered  impotent  unless  he  be  possessed 
by  the  secret  of  the  heavenly  peace.  The 
restless  trumpeter  ministers  no  thrill,  and  the 
perturbed  warrior  lacks  the  very  genius  of 
conquest.  I  know  the  feverish  motions  of 
our  time,  the  restlessness  of  fruitless  desire, 
the  disturbing  forebodings  of  anxiety,  the 
busy-ness  of  the  devil,  the  sleepless  and  per- 
spiring activity  of  Mammon,  the  rush  to  be 
rich,  the  race  to  be  happy,  the  craving  for 
sensation,  the  immense  impetus  and  speed 
characterizing  every  interest  in  our  varied 
life,  and  added  to  all,  the  precipitate  shedding 
of  hoary  forms  and  vestures,  and  the  re- 
clothing  of  the  thoughts  of  men  in  modern 
and    more    congenial    attire.     I    know   the 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  97 

general  restlessness,  the  heated  and  con- 
suming haste,  and  knowing  them  I  proclaim 
that  the  secret  of  a  successful  antagonism 
must  be  sought  in  the  profound  restfulness 
of  the  Church.  I  do  not  wonder  at  the  rest- 
lessness of  the  world,  but  I  stand  amazed  at 
the  restlessness  of  the  Saviour's  Church  I 
We  are  encountering  restlessness  by  restless- 
ness, and  on  many  sides  we  are  suffering  de- 
feat. The  antagonist  ought  to  be  of  quite 
another  order.  The  contendents  must  be 
restfulness  versus  rest,  and  the  odds  will  be 
overwhelmingly  on  our  side.  Let  me  pause 
to  make  a  few  distinctions  in  order  that  my 
argument  may  not  be  misunderstood.  We 
must  distinguish  between  indolent  passivity 
and  active  restfulness.  I  am  not  pleading 
for  enervating  ease,  but  for  enabling  and  in- 
spiring rest.  Ease  is  an  opiate ;  rest  is  a 
stimulant,  say,  rather  a  nutriment.  Ease  is 
the  enemy  of  strength ;  rest  is  its  hidden  re- 
source. I  do  not  stand  here,  therefore,  as 
the  advocate  of  the  couch,  but  as  the  advo- 
cate of  restful  and  therefore  invincible  move- 
ment.    Our    scientists    distinguish   between 


98        THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

motion  and  energy,  and  I  could  wish  that 
some  similar  distinction  might  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  sphere  of  the  Church.  All 
activity  is  not  influential.  All  speech  is  not 
persuasive.  All  supplication  is  not  effec- 
tive. The  secret  of  effective  supplication  is 
a  quiet  faith.  The  secret  of  effective  speech 
is  a  hidden  assurance.  The  secret  of 
triumphant  warfare  is  a  permanent  peace. 
The  essential  and  operative  element  in  all 
fruitful  activity  is  a  deep  and  abiding 
rest.  We  must  fight  the  prevalent  rest- 
lessness by  a  sovereign  peace.  "  Come 
unto  Me,  .  .  .  and  I  will  give  you 
rest." 

Now,  my  brethren,  I  confess  I  miss  this 
essential  in  the  modern  Church.  How  think 
you  ?  Is  the  Church  of  our  day  characterized 
by  that  wealthy  peace  and  rest  which  ought 
to  be  the  portion  of  all  saved,  forgiven  and 
sanctified  men  and  women  ?  I  confess  that 
peace  and  rest  are  about  the  last  grace  I 
think  about  when  I  gaze  upon  the  modern 
Church !  The  care-lines,  and  the  wrinkles 
of  worry  and  anxiety  and  uncertainty,  and  a 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  99 

general  air  of  restlessness,  seem  to  me  almost 
as  prevalent  upon  the  countenance  of  the 
Church  as  upon  the  face  of  the  world.  The 
Church  is  not  conspicuous  by  the  smoothness 
of^its  brow  !  Everywhere  I  detect  a  certain 
strain,  a  certain  fussy  precipitancy,  a  certain 
trembling  activity,  a  certain  emasculating 
care.  We  look  like  men  and  women  who 
are  carrying  more  than  we  can  bear,  and 
who  are  attempting  tasks  that  are  quite  be- 
yond our  strength.  If  I  listen  to  our  pre- 
vailing vocabulary,  and  note  the  words  that 
are  most  in  evidence,  my  impression  of  the 
general  restlessness  is  only  confirmed.  The 
vocabulary  is  scriptural  enough  so  far  as  it 
goes,  but  the  real  fertilizing  terms  are  too 
much  obscured  or  ignored.  The  great,  hot, 
dry  words  in  the  terminology  are  manifest 
enough  :  strive,  fight,  wrestle,  oppose,  work, 
war,  do,  endeavour  ;  but  those  gracious,  ener- 
gizing words,  lying  there  with  the  soft  dews 
upon  them :  grace,  rest,  joy,  quietness,  as- 
surance, these  deep,  generic  words  are  not 
sufficiently  honoured  in  our  modern  speech, 
I  am  calling  for  the  resurrection  of  these  do' 


loo      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

mestic  terms  in  order  that  the  military  terms 
may  be  revived.  I  am  calling  to  peace  for 
the  sake  of  warfare.  I  am  calling  to  rest  for 
the  sake  of  labour.  I  plead  for  a  little  more 
mysticism  for  the  sake  of  our  enthusiasms.  I 
proclaim  the  sacredness  and  necessity  of  the 
cloister  in  the  soul,  the  necessity  of  a  chamber 
of  peace,  a  centre  of  calmness,  a  "heart  at 
rest,  when  all  without  tumultuous  seems." 
Rest  is  the  secret  of  conquest,  and  it  is 
to  the  Church  therefore,  and  not  to  the 
world,  that  I  primarily  offer  this  evangel  to- 
day :  "  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest." 

Now,  when  I  look  around  upon  the  strained 
and  wrinkled  Church,  moving  often  in  the 
pallor  of  fear  and  uncertainty  when  she  ought 
to  exult  in  the  pink  of  strength  and  assur- 
ance, I  am  impressed  with  certain  primary 
lacks  in  her  equipment.  The  strain  fre- 
quently comes  at  the  hill ;  not  always  so, 
perhaps  not  even  commonly  so,  for  perhaps 
it  is  true  both  of  men  and  of  Churches  that 
the  strain  is  not  so  much  felt  in  the  sharp 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  loi 

and  passing  crisis  as  in  the  dull  and  jogging 
commonplace.  Perhaps  there  is  more  strain 
in  the  prolonged  drudgery  than  in  the  sudden 
calamity.  The  dead  level  may  try  us  more 
than  the  hill !  "  Because  they  have  no  changes 
they  fear  not  God."  But  come  the  strain  how- 
it  may,  all  strain  is  suggestive  of  inadequate 
resources ;  and  the  wrinkled,  restless,  care- 
worn face  of  the  Church  makes  it  abundantly 
evident  that  the  Church  is  not  entering  into 
the  fullness  of  '*  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light."  What  does  the  Church  require  if 
her  strain  and  her  paralyzing  restlessness 
are  to  be  removed  ?  She  needs  a  more  rest- 
ful realization  of  her  Lord's  Presence.  My 
brethren,  we  fight  too  much  as  soldiers  whose 
leader  is  out  of  the  field.  We  work  too  much 
as  though  our  Exemplar  were  a  dead  Naza- 
rene,  instead  of  a  living  and  immediate 
friend.  We  tear  about  with  the  aimless, 
pathetic  wanderings  of  little  chicks  when  the 
mother-bird  is  away.  And  so  our  life  is 
strained  and  restless  and  uninspired,  when 
it  might  be  filled  with  a  big  and  bracing 
contentment.     We  need  the  stimulating  con- 


I02      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

sciousness  of  a  great  and  ever-present  Com- 
panionship. We  know  the  stimulus  of  lofty 
companionship  in  other  spheres  and  in  smaller 
communions.  We  know  the  influence  of 
Stevenson's  companionship  upon  Mr.  Barrie 
and  Mr.  Crockett.  That  companionship 
acted  like  a  second  literary  conscience,  re- 
straining all  careless  and  hasty  work,  but  it 
also  acted  as  an  unfailing  inspiration,  quick- 
ening the  very  tissues  of  their  minds  and 
souls.  It  was  a  companionship  that  was  not 
only  like  a  great  white  throne  of  literary 
judgment,  but  a  throne  out  of  which  there 
flowed,  as  there  does  out  of  every  engaging 
personality,  a  river  of  water  of  life,  vitalizing 
all  who  hold  communion  with  it.  But  when 
we  lift  up  the  relationship,  and  contemplate 
the  great  communion  which  we  are  all  priv- 
ileged to  share  in  the  companionship  of  the 
Lord,  all  similes  tire  and  fall  limp  and  inef- 
fective, and  leave  the  glory  unexpressed  !  A 
restful  realization  of  the  Lord's  companion- 
ship !  That  has  been  the  characteristic  of  all 
men  whose  religious  activity  has  been  force- 
ful, influential  and  fertile  in  the  purposes  of 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  103 

the  kingdom.  At  the  very  heart  of  all  their 
labours,  in  the  very  centre  of  their  stormiest 
days,  there  is  a  sphere  of  sure  and  restful  in- 
timacy with  the  Lord.  You  know  how  close 
and  intimate  and  calm  such  intimacy  can  be. 
I  think  of  Samuel  Rutherford.  I  think  of 
the  love-language  which  he  uses  in  his  com- 
munion with  the  Lord.  Only  the  Song  of 
Solomon  can  supply  him  with  suitable  ex- 
pressions of  holy  passion  wherewith  to  tell 
the  story  of  his  soul's  devotion.  When  I 
read  some  of  his  words  I  almost  feel  as 
though  I  were  eavesdropping,  and  had  over- 
heard two  lovers  in  their  gentle  and  wooing 
speech.  It  is  a  fashion  of  language  not  con- 
genial to  our  time,  but  that  is  only  because 
in  our  day  we  have  almost  ceased  to  culti- 
vate the  affections,  and  confine  our  education 
to  the  culture  of  the  intellect  and  the  con- 
science. "  We  now  make  critics,  not  lovers," 
and  the  love-impassioned  speech  of  Samuel 
Rutherford  sounds  to  us  like  an  alien  tongue. 
Samuel  Rutherford  had  a  sweet  and  restful 
intimacy  with  his  Lord,  and  therefore  he  was 
never  idle,  and  never  feared  the  coming  day 


I04      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

I  think  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  a  man  of  gjeatly 
differing  type  from  Samuel  Rutherford,  but 
also  a  man  of  multitudinous  labours  and  of 
fearless  persistence,  and  whose  activities 
rested  upon  a  sublime  repose  in  the  abid- 
ing sense  of  the  reality  and  presence  of  his 
Lord.  His  latest  biographer  declares  that  he 
had  "  an  immediate  vision  of  the  spiritual 
universe  as  the  reality  of  realities,"  that  "in 
exploring  its  recesses  and  in  pondering  its 
relations  he  did  so  as  native  and  to  the 
manner  born,"  and  that  perhaps  next  to  the 
Apostle  John  he  exercised  the  surest  and  most 
intimate  familiarity  with  things  unseen.  I 
think  of  David  Hill,  and  I  am  conscious  of 
the  sweet  and  gracious  perfume  which  was 
ever  rising  from  his  full  and  ever-moving 
life.  At  the  heart  of  this  busy  worker  was 
the  restful  lover ;  he  moved  about  in  assured 
and  certain  warfare  because  his  soul  was  ever 
feasting  in  love-companionship  with  his  Lord. 
I  like  this  sentence  of  his :  "  What  a  thrill  it 
gives  me  to  meet  with  one  who  has  fallen  in 
love  with  Jesus  !  "  Ah,  but  that  is  the  speech 
of  a  lover,  who  is  himself  in  love  with  the 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  105 

Lord.  It  is  the  thrill  of  sympathetic  vibra- 
tions ;  it  is  the  thrill  of  one  who  is  already  in 
love  with  the  lover,  and  who  delights  to  see 
the  Lover  come  to  His  own.  David  Hill's 
sort  of  warfare  finds  its  explanation  in  the 
lover's  thrill,  and  in  the  lover's  thrill  has  its 
secret  in  the  lover's  rest.  But  why  should  I 
keep  upon  these  high  planes  of  renowned 
and  prominent  personalities?  Get  a  man 
who  is  restfully  intimate  with  his  Lord,  and 
you  have  a  man  whose  force  is  tremendous  1 
Such  men  move  in  apparent  ease,  but  it  is 
the  ease  that  is  linked  with  the  infinite,  it  is 
the  very  rest  of  God.  They  may  be  engaged 
in  apparent  trifles,  but  even  in  the  doing  of 
the  trifles  there  emerges  the  health-giving 
currents  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Listen  to 
James  Smetham  :  **  I  was  at  the  leaders' 
meeting  last  nightc  There  was  the  superin- 
tendent. There  were  a  gardener,  a  baker,  a 
cheese-monger,  a  postman  and  myself.  We 
sat  till  near  10  P.  M.  Now  what  were  the 
topics?  When  is  the  juvenile  missionary 
meeting  to  be  ?  When  the  society  tea-meet- 
ing?    How  best  to  distribute  the  poor  money, 


io6      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

etc.?"  Here  were  these  unknown  and  unlet- 
tered men,  engaged  in  apparently  trivial  busi- 
ness, but  resting  in  the  Lord,  and  pouring 
forth  from  their  rest-possessed  souls  spiritual 
energy  which  to  James  Smetham  is  like 
"healthy  air,"  and  "send  me  home,"  he 
says,  "as  last  night,  cured  to  the  core,  so 
fresh,  so  calm,  so  delivered  from  all  my  fears 
and  troubles."  The  man  who  is  sure  and  rest- 
ful in  the  conscious  companionship  of  his 
Lord  has  about  him  the  strainlessness  and 
inevitableness  of  the  ocean  tide,  and  gives  off 
bracing  influence  like  God's  fresh  and  won- 
drous sea.  "  Then  had  Thy  peace  been  like 
a  river,  and  Thy  righteousness  like  the  waves 
of  the  sea."  Let  us  become  restfully  sure  of 
God,  and  we  shall  meet  the  battalions  of  the 
evil  one  unstrained  and  undismayed.  "  Hold 
the  fort,  for  I  am  coming  !  "  The  doctrine  is 
pernicious,  and  fills  the  life  with  strain, 
and  fear,  and  uncertainty !  "  For  I  am 
coming!"  "The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with 
us ;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge."  Let 
the  Church  rest  in  her  Lord,  and  she  will 
become   terrible   as  an  army  with  banners 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  107 

'  Come  unto  Me,        .    .     and   I  will   give 
you  rest." 

What  does  the  Church  need  if  her  strain 
and  her  wrinkles  are  to  be  removed?  She 
needs  a  more  restful  realization  of  the  wealth 
and  power  of  her  allies.  We  too  often  face 
our  foes  with  the  shiver  of  fear,  and  with  the 
pallor  of  expected  defeat  We  too  often 
manifest  the  symptoms  of  panic,  instead  of 
marching  out  in  orderly  array  with  the  rest- 
ful assurance  of  conquest.  The  hosts  of  evil 
are  even  now  organizing  their  forces  in 
threatening  and  terrific  mass.  Are  our 
wrinkles  increasing?  Is  our  fear  intensify- 
ing our  strain,  and  are  we  possessed  by  a 
great  uncertainty?  Why,  brethren,  if  we 
were  conscious  of  our  resources,  and  rec- 
ognized our  cooperative  allies,  we  should 
more  frequently  put  the  Doxology  at  the  be- 
ginning of  our  programmes,  and  our  hearts 
would  sing  of  victory  even  before  the  conflict 
began  1  It  is  all  a  matter  of  being  more  rest- 
fully  conscious  of  the  allies  that  fight  on  our 
side.  Paul  was  a  great  hand  at  numbering 
up  his  friends,  and  so  great  was  the  company 


io8      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

that  he  always  felt  his  side  was  overwhelm- 
ing !  He  periodically  reviews  the  coopera- 
tive forces,  and  invariably  marches  on  with 
a  more  impassioned  Doxology.  Think  of 
our  resources  in  grace.  You  cannot  turn  to 
any  of  the  epistles  of  the  great  Aposde  with- 
out feeling  how  immense  and  immediate  is 
his  conception  of  his  helpmeets  in  grace. 
Grace  runs  through  all  his  arguments.  It  is 
allied  with  all  his  counsel.  It  bathes  all  his 
ethical  ideals.  It  flows  like  a  river  close  by 
the  highway  of  his  life,  winding  with  all  his 
windings,  and  remaining  in  inseparable  com- 
panionship. But  my  figure  is  altogether  in- 
effective. Paul's  conception  of  life  was  not 
that  of  road  and  river — the  common  highway 
of  duty  with  its  associated  refreshment  of 
grace.  Grace  was  to  Paul  an  all-enveloping 
atmosphere,  a  defensive  and  oxygenating 
air,  which  braced  and  nourished  his  own 
spirit,  and  wasted  and  consumed  his  foes. 
"  The  abundant  grace"  I  "  The  riches  of  the 
grace "  I  "  The  exceeding  riches  of  His 
grace  "  !  I  can  never  recall  Paul's  concep- 
tion of  grace  without  thinking  of  broad,  full 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  109 

rivers  when  the  snows  have  mehed  on  the 
heights,  of  brimming  springtides,  and  of 
overwhelming  and  submerging  floods. 
"  Where  sin  abounded  grace  did  much  more 
abound  "  !  And,  brethren,  these  glorious  re- 
sources of  grace  are  ours,  our  allies  in  the 
work,  and  march,  and  conflict  of  our  times. 
Don't  you  think  that  if  she  realized  them,  the 
Church  would  lose  her  wrinkles  and  her 
strain,  and  would  move  in  the  strength  and 
the  assurance  of  a  glorious  rest  ?  I  like  that 
dream  of  Josephine  Butler's,  when  her  life 
passed  into  deep  shadow,  amid  many  frown- 
ing and  threatening  besetments  :  "  I  thought 
I  was  lying  flat,  with  a  restful  feeling,  on  a 
smooth,  still  sea,  a  boundless  ocean,  with  no 
limit  or  shore  on  any  side.  It  was  strong 
and  held  me  up,  and  there  was  light  and  sun- 
shine all  around  me.  And  I  heard  a  voice 
say,  *  Such  is  the  grace  of  God  ! '  "  Let  the 
Church  even  dimly  realize  the  force  of  this 
tremendous  ally,  and  she  will  move  with  a 
strength  and  quietness  which  will  give  her 
the  secret  of  perpetual  conquest. 
And  think  of  our  allies  in  circumstances  1 


no      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Devilry  has  not  the  unimpeded  run  of  the 
field.  Somewhere  in  the  field,  let  me  rather 
say  everywhere  in  the  field,  there  is  hid- 
den the  Divine  Antagonist.  The  apparent  is 
not  the  fundamental.  The  immediate  trend 
does  not  represent  the  final  issue.  The  royst' 
ering  adversary  runs  up  against  Almighty 
God,  and  all  his  feverish  schemes  are  turned 
agley.  It  is  marvellous  to  watch  the  terrific 
twist  given  to  circumstances  by  the  compul- 
sion of  an  unseen  and  mysterious  hand. 
"The  things  that  happened  unto  me  have 
turned  out  rather  unto  the  progress  of  the 
Gospel."  So  sings  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  the 
experience  has  become  so  familiar  to  him 
that  now,  in  the  days  of  his  great  besetments, 
he  always  quietly  and  confidently  awaits  the 
action  of  the  mighty,  secret  pressure  which 
changes  the  temporary  misfortune  into  per 
manent  advantage.  "  I  know  that  even  this 
shall  turn  to  my  salvation  through  your 
prayer  and  the  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
Jesus."  How  can  a  man  with  that  persua- 
sion be  shaken  with  panic?  How  can  he 
fight  and  labour  in  any  spirit  but  the  restful 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  iii 

optimism  of  a  triumphant  hope  ?  Do  not  let 
us  quake  before  circumstances,  or  lapse  into 
unbelieving  restlessness  and  strain.  The 
secret  of  circumstance  belongeth  unto  God. 
The  unseen  drift  is  with  us.  The  nature  of 
things  is  on  our  side.  "Thou  shalt  be  in 
league  with  the  stones  of  the  field."  The 
universal  yearning  of  the  material  world  cor- 
roborates the  purpose  of  our  advance,  *'  The 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  "  in 
profoundest  sympathy  with  the  evolution  and 
*^  manifestation  of  the  children  of  God."  The 
planet  itself  is  pledged  against  the  devil. 
"  The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against 
Sisera."  "They  that  be  with  us  are  more 
than  they  that  be  against  us."  "  And  Elijah 
prayed,  and  said,  Lord,  I  pray  Thee,  open 
his  eyes  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man,  and  he 
saw ;  and,  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of 
horses  and  chariots  of  fire."  Our  allies  are 
everywhere  and  anywhere  I  Why  should  our 
faces  be  strained?  Why  should  we  toil  in 
restless  fear?  Why  should  the  Church  be 
wrinkled  like  the  world  ?     *'  Christ  loved  the 


112      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Church,   and   gave   Himself^  for  it,     . 
that  He  might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious 
Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing." 

And  let  me  add  one  closing  word.  I  think 
the  Church  needs  a  more  restful  disposition 
in  the  ministry  of  prayer.  I  am  amazed  at 
the  want  of  restfulness  in  our  communion 
with  the  Lord !  I  do  not  speak  of  our  un- 
necessary loudness,  but  of  the  feverish  un- 
certainty, the  strained  and  painful  clutch  and 
cleaving,  the  perspiring  pleading  which  is 
half-suggestive  of  unbelief.  Let  me  say  it  in 
great  reverence,  and  not  in  a  spirit  of  idle 
and  careless  criticism,  when  I  listen  to  some 
prayers  I  find  it  difficult  to  realize  that  we 
are  speaking  to  the  One  who  said,  "  Behold, 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock ;  if  any  man 
hear  My  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will 
come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he 
with  Me."  Our  strained  and  restless  prayers 
do  not  suggest  the  quiet  opening  of  a  door, 
they  rather  suggest  a  frenzied  and  fearful 
prisoner,  hallooing  to  a  God  who  has  turned 
His  back  upon  our  door,  and  the  sound  of 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  REST  113 

whose  retreating  footsteps  is  lessening  in  the 
far-away.  We  need  a  firmer  and  quieter  as- 
surance while  we  pray.  Yes,  even  in  our 
supplications  it  is  needful  to  "  rest  in  the 
Lord."  Perhaps  it  would  be  a  good  thing 
for  many  of  us  in  our  praying  seasons  if  we 
were  to  say  less  and  to  listen  more.  "  I  will 
hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak."  Listen- 
ing might  bring  restfulness  where  speech 
would  only  inflame  us.  It  is  not  an  insig- 
nificant thing  that  the  marginal  rendering  of 
that  lovely  phrase,  "  Rest  in  the  Lord,"  is 
just  this,  **  Be  silent  unto  the  Lord  "  !  Per- 
haps we  need  a  little  more  of  the  Quaker 
silence  and  receptiveness,  and  a  little  less  of 
heated  speech  and  aggression.  At  any  rate, 
we  must  get  the  doubt-wrinkles  out  of  our 
prayers,  and  in  our  speech  with  God  we  must 
manifest  the  assurance  of  a  calm  and  fruitful 
faith. 

I  call  you  then  to  rest !  Nay,  the  Master 
Himself  is  the  caller  :  "  Come  unto  Me,"  thou 
strained  and  care-worn  Church,  "  Come  unto 
Me,"  and  I  will  distinguish  thee  from  the 
world,  for  "  I  will  give  thee  rest." 


114      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Drop  Thy  still  dews  of  quietness, 

Till  all  our  strivings  cease ; 
Take  from  our  souls  the  strain  and  stress, 

And  let  our  ordered  lives  confess 
The  beauty  of  Thy  peace. 


VII 

THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION 

"But  in  the  latter  days  it  shall  come  to  pass." — 
MiCAH  4:1. 

"  But  in  the  latter  days  it  shall  come  to 
pass.  .  .  ."  The  prophet  lifts  his  eyes 
away  to  the  latter  days  to  gain  refreshment 
in  his  present  toil.  He  feasts  his  soul  upon 
the  golden  age  which  is  to  be,  in  order  that 
he  may  nerve  himself  in  his  immediate  serv- 
ice. Without  the  anticipation  of  a  golden 
age  he  would  lose  his  buoyancy,  and  the 
spirit  of  endeavour  would  go  out  of  his  work. 
Our  visions  always  determine  the  quality  of 
our  tasks.  Our  dominant  thought  regulates 
our  activities.  What  pattern  am  I  working 
by  ?  What  golden  age  have  I  in  my  mind  ? 
What  do  I  see  as  the  possible  consummation 
of  my  labours  ?  I  may  be  keenly  conscious 
of  what  I  am  working  at,  but  what  am  I 
working  for?  What  do  I  see  in  the  latter 
"5 


ii6      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

days?  There  is  your  child  at  home.  You 
are  ministering  to  him  in  your  daily  attention 
and  service.  What  is  your  pattern  in  the 
mind  ?  How  do  you  see  him  in  the  long 
run?  How  looks  he  in  your  mind's  eye? 
What  sort  of  a  man  do  you  see  in  your  boy  ? 
How  would  you  fill  up  this  imperfect  phrase 
concerning  him  "  In  the  latter  days  it  shall 
come  to  pass  .  .  .  ?"  Have  you  ever 
painted  his  possibilities  ?  If  you  have  no 
clear  golden  age  for  the  boy  your  training 
will  be  uncertain,  your  discipline  will  be  a 
guesswork  and  a  chance.  You  must  come 
to  your  child  with  a  vision  of  the  man  you 
would  like  him  to  be,  and  the  vision  will 
shape  and  control  all  your  ministries.  Our 
visions  are  our  dies,  quietly,  ceaselessly  press- 
ing against  the  plastic  material  of  the  lives 
for  which  we  labour.  Our  vision  of  possibili- 
ties helps  to  shape  the  actuality. 

There  is  the  scholar  in  the  school.  When 
a  teacher  goes  to  his  class,  be  it  a  class  of 
boys  or  girls,  what  kind  of  men  and  women 
has  he  in  his  eye  ?  Surely  we  do  not  go  to 
work  among  our  children  in  blind  and  good- 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION        117 

humoured  chance  ?  We  are  the  architects 
and  builders  of  their  characters,  and  we  must 
have  some  completed  conception  even  before 
we  begin  our  work.  I  suppose  the  architect 
sees  the  finished  building  in  his  eye  even  be- 
fore he  takes  a  pencil  in  his  hand,  and  cer- 
tainly long  before  the  pick  and  the  spade 
touch  the  virgin  soil.  It  is  built  up  in  imagi- 
nation before  he  cuts  the  first  sod.  It  must 
not  be  otherwise  with  our  children  in  the 
schools.  Again  I  say,  we  must  be  able  to 
complete  the  unfinished  phrase  :  "  In  the  lat- 
ter days  it  shall  come  to  pass.  .  .  ."  We 
must  deliberately  fill  in  the  blank,  and  see 
clearly  the  consummation  at  which  we  aim^ 
That  boy  who  gives  the  teacher  so  much 
trouble ;  restless,  indifferent,  bursting  with 
animal  vitality,  how  is  he  depicted  as  man  in 
your  chamber  of  imagery?  Do  you  only  see 
him  as  he  is  ?  Little,  then,  will  be  your  in- 
fluence to  make  him  what  he  might  be.  You 
must  see  a  golden  age  for  the  boy,  a  splendid 
prime,  and  so  every  moment  your  ardent  vi- 
sion will  be  operating  to  realize  itself  in  the 
unpromising  material  of  the  present. 


ii8      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

Let  me  assume  that  your  work  is  among 
the  outcasts.  When  you  go  to  court  and 
alley,  or  to  the  elegant  house  in  the  favoured 
suburb,  and  find  men  and  women  sunk  in 
animalism,  trailing  the  robes  of  human  dig- 
nity in  unnameable  mire,  how  do  you  see 
them  with  the  eyes  of  the  soul?  "In  the 
latter  days  it  shall  come  to  pass.  .  .  ." 
What  ?  To  the  eye  of  sense  they  are  filthy, 
offensive,  repellent.  What  like  are  their 
faces,  and  what  sort  of  robes  do  they  wear  in 
the  vision  of  the  soul  ?  Do  we  address  the 
beast  as  the  gentleman-to-be  ?  Are  we  deal- 
ing with  the  "  might-be "  or  only  with  the 
thing  that  is  ?  Sir  Titus  Salt  was  pacing  the 
docks  at  Liverpool  and  saw  great  quantities 
of  dirty,  waste  material  lying  in  unregarded 
heaps.  He  looked  at  the  unpromising  sub- 
stance, and  in  his  mind's  eye  saw  finished 
fabrics  and  warm  and  welcome  garments ; 
and  ere  long  the  power  of  the  imagination 
devised  ministries  for  converting  the  outcast 
stuff  into  refined  and  finished  robes.  We 
must  look  at  all  our  waste  material  in  human 
life  and  see  the  vision  of  the  "  might-be."     I 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION        119 

took  out  a  little  sentence  the  other  day  from  a 
book  I  was  reading,  a  sentence  which  fell  from 
the  lips  of  one  of  the  unfortunate  women  who 
so  greatly  add  to  the  sins  of  our  great  cities. 
Some  man  had  done  her  a  courtesy,  spoken 
to  her  in  kindly  tone  and  manner,  and  sur- 
prised and  thrilled  her  cold  and  careless 
heart.  "He  raised  his  hat  to  me  as  if  I  were 
a  lady  1 "  The  man  had  addressed  her  as  she 
might  be,  and  the  buried  dignity  within  her 
rose  to  the  call.  He  spoke  to  her  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  golden  age,  and  she  lifted  her 
eyes  to  the  vision  revealed. 

Surely  this  was  the  Master's  way !  He  is 
always  calling  the  thing  that  is  by  the  name 
of  its  "might-be."  "Thou  art  Simon,"  a 
mere  hearer ;  "  Thou  shalt  be  called  Peter," 
a  rock.  To  the  woman  of  sin,  the  outcast 
child  of  the  city,  He  addressed  the  gracious 
word  "daughter,"  and  spoke  to  her  as  if  she 
were  already  a  child  of  the  golden  age  ;  her 
weary  heart  leaped  to  the  welcome  speech. 
And  so  we  have  got  to  come  to  our  work 
with  visions  of  the  latter  days,  glimpses  of 
the  'might-be,"  pictures  of  the  golden  age. 


I20      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

or  the  cheap  and  tinselled  present  will  never 
be  enriched.  Take  your  child,  your  scholar, 
or  the  outcast  man  in  the  court,  or  the  de- 
graded man  in  the  villa,  and  get  well  into 
your  mind  and  heart  a  vision  of  all  they 
might  be.  Spend  time  over  it.  Work  it  out 
line  upon  line.  Make  it  superlatively  beauti- 
ful and  noble.  Then,  with  that  vision  of  the 
later  day,  address  yourself  to  the  present 
day ;  and  your  vision  will  dominate  your 
very  muscles,  and  every  movement  of  service 
will  be  a  minister  of  elevation  and  refine- 
ment. 

I  am  not  surprised,  therefore,  that  all  great 
reformers  and  all  men  and  women  who  have 
profoundly  influenced  the  life  and  thought  of 
their  day  have  been  visionaries,  having  a 
clear  sight  of  things  as  they  might  be,  feel- 
ing the  cheery  glow  of  the  light  and  heat  of 
the  golden  age.  Abraham,  amid  the  idola- 
trous cities  of  his  own  day,  had  a  vision  of 
the  latter  days,  and,  while  labouring  in  the 
present,  "  looked  for  the  city  which  hath 
foundations  whose  builder  and  maker  is 
God."     The  Apostle  John,  in  the  Island  of 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION        121 

Pattnos,  while  impressed  with  the  iniquity  of 
Rome  seated  on  her  seven  hills,  and  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  saints,  saw  through  the 
Rome  that  was  to  the  Rome  that  might  be, 
"  The  Holy  City,  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  made  ready 
as  a  bride  adorned  for  husband."  And  so 
has  it  been  through  all  the  changing  cen- 
turies right  down  to  our  own  time.  In  my 
own  city  of  Birmingham  forty  years  ago, 
when  North  and  South  America  were  locked 
in  bloody  strife,  and  it  seemed  as  though  the 
future  were  pregnant  with  nothing  but  quar- 
rel and  discord,  John  Bright  lifted  the  eyes  of 
his  countrymen  to  the  glory  of  the  latter 
days,  and  unfolded  to  them  the  radiant  col- 
ours of  the  golden  age  :  **  It  may  be  but  a 
vision,  but  I  will  cherish  it ;  I  see  one  vast 
federation  stretch  from  the  frozen  north  in 
unbroken  line  to  the  glowing  south,  and 
from  the  wild  billows  of  the  Atlantic  west- 
ward to  the  calmer  waters  of  the  Pacific 
main.  And  I  see  one  people  and  one  lan- 
guage, and  one  law  and  one  faith,  and  over 
all  that  white  continent  the  home  of  freedom 


122      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

and  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  every  race 
and  every  clime." 

And  so  the  prophet  Micah,  in  a  book  that 
is  crowded  with  severity  and  denunciation 
and  indictment,  and  noisy  with  thunder  and 
frightful  in  its  lightning,  still  lets  us  hear  the 
music  of  the  latter  days,  and  permits  us  to 
contemplate  the  vision  of  the  golden  age  in 
which  he  travailed  and  toiled :  "In  the  latter 
days  it  shall  come  to  pass.  .  .  ."  What 
are  the  characteristics  of  the  golden  age  to 
which  the  prophet  was  looking  with  hungry 
and  aspiring  spirit?  ''The  7nountain  of  the 
Lord' s  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of 
the  mountains^  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills r  Then  in  the  golden  age  emphasis 
is  to  be  given  to  the  spiritual.  The  moun- 
tain of  the  Lord's  house  is  to  be  established 
at  the  top  of  the  mountain.  I  think  of  Dur- 
ham city  as  an  emblem  of  the  prophet's 
thought.  Away  in  the  lower  reaches  of  the 
city  there  is  the  river,  on  which  boats  are 
plying  for  pleasure  and  recreation.  A  little 
higher  up  on  the  slopes  are  the  places  of 
business,  the  ways  and  byways  of  trade.     A 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION        123 

little  higher  there  is  the  castle  hill,  on  which 
the  turretted  tower  presents  its  imposing 
front ;  but  on  a  higher  summit,  commanding 
all  and  overlooking  all,  there  rises  and  towers 
aloft  the  majesty  of  the  glorious  old  cathe- 
dral. Let  me  interpret  the  emblem.  The 
river  is  typical  of  pleasure,  the  ways  of  busi- 
ness are  representatives  of  money,  the  castle 
is  the  symbol  of  armaments,  the  cathedral  is 
significant  of  God.  In  the  latter  days  the 
spiritual  is  to  have  emphasis  above  pleasure, 
money,  armaments.  In  whatever  promi- 
nence these  may  be  seen,  they  are  all  to  be 
subordinate  to  the  reverence  and  worship  of 
God.  Military  prowess  and  money-making 
and  pleasure-seeking  are  to  be  put  in  their 
own  place,  and  not  to  be  permitted  to  leave 
it.  First  things  first !  "  In  the  beginning 
God."  This  is  the  first  characteristic  of  the 
golden  age. 

^^  And  many  nations  shall  come  and  say  : 
Come  and  let  us  go  tip  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  facob^ 
and  He  will  teach  us  His  ways,  and  we  will 
walk  in  His  paths T     Then  the  second  char- 


124      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

acteristic  of  the  golden  age  is  that  people  are 
to  find  their  confluence  and  unity  in  common 
worship.  The  brotherhood  is  to  be  discov- 
ered in  spiritual  communion.  We  are  not 
to  find  profound  community  upon  the  river 
of  pleasure  or  in  the  ways  of  business  or  in 
the  armaments  of  the  castle.  These  are 
never  permanently  cohesive.  Pleasure  is 
more  frequently  divisive  than  cohesive.  At 
the  present  time  we  have  abundant  evidence 
that  commerce  may  be  a  severing  ministry 
among  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  And  cer- 
tainly we  do  not  find  union  in  common 
armaments.  Two  nations  may  fight  side  by 
side  to-day,  and  may  confront  each  other  to- 
morrow. No,  it  is  in  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord's  house  the  peoples  will  discover  their 
unity  and  kinship.  It  is  in  the  common 
worship  of  the  one  Lord,  in  united  adora- 
tion of  the  God  revealed  in  Christ,  that  our 
brotherhood  will  be  unburied,  and  we  shall 
realize  how  rich  is  our  oneness  in  Him. 

"And    they   shall  beat  their  swords   into 
ploughshares^  and  their  spears  into  pruning 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION        125 

hooks r  Then  the  third  characteristic  of  the 
golden  age  is  to  be  the  conversion  of  merely- 
destructive  force  into  positive  and  construct- 
ive ministries.  No  energy  is  to  be  destroyed : 
it  is  all  to  be  transfigured.  The  sword  is  to 
become  a  ploughshare  ;  the  weapon  of  de- 
struction an  implement  of  culture.  I  saw  a 
picture  the  other  day  which  was  intended  to 
represent  the  re-enshrinement  of  peace.  A 
cannon  had  dropped  from  its  battered  car- 
riage and  was  lying  in  the  meadow,  rusting 
away  to  ruin.  A  lamb  was  feeding  at  its 
very  mouth,  and  round  it  on  every  side  the 
flowers  were  growing.  But  really  that  is  not 
a  picture  of  the  golden  age.  The  cannon  is 
not  to  rust,  it  is  to  be  converted,  its  strength 
is  to  be  transfigured.  After  the  Franco- 
German  war  many  of  the  cannon  balls  were 
re-made  into  church  bells.  One  of  our 
manufacturers  in  Birmingham  told  me  only 
a  week  ago  that  he  was  busy  turning  the 
empty  cases  of  the  shells  used  in  the  recent 
war  into  dinner  gongs  !  That  is  the  sugges- 
tion we  seek  in  the  golden  age :  all  destruc- 


126      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

tive  forces  are  to  be  changed  into  helpful 
ministries.  Tongues  that  speak  nothing  but 
malice  are  to  be  turned  into  instructors  of 
wisdom.  Passions  that  are  working  havoc 
and  ruin  are  to  be  made  the  nourishers  of 
fine  endeavour  and  holy  work.  All  men's 
gifts  and  powers,  and  all  material  forces,  are 
to  be  used  in  the  employment  of  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

"  They  shall  sit  every  man  under  his  vine 
and  under  his  Jig-treeP  That  savours  of 
Bournville  I  Yes,  and  Bournville  is  in  the 
prophetic  line,  and  has  got  something  of  the 
light  and  colour  of  the  golden  age.  There  is 
to  be  a  distribution  of  comforts.  Life's  mo- 
notony is  to  be  broken  up.  Sweet  and  win- 
some things  are  to  be  brought  into  the  com- 
mon life.  Dinginess  and  want  are  both  to 
be  banished.  There  is  to  be  a  little  beauty 
for  everybody,  something  of  the  vine  and 
the  fig-tree.  There  is  to  be  a  little  ease  for 
everybody,  time  to  sit  down  and  rest.  To 
every  mortal  man  there  is  to  be  given  a  little 
treasure,  a  little  leisure  and  a  little  pleasure. 


THE  DISCIPLE'S  VISION         127 

** And  none  shall  make  them  afraid."  And 
they  are  not  only  to  have  comfort  but  the 
added  glory  of  peace.  The  gift  of  the  vine 
and  fig-tree  would  be  nothing  if  peace  re- 
mained an  exile.  There  are  many  people 
who  have  both  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree,  but 
their  life  is  haunted  and  disturbed  by  fears. 
In  the  golden  age  peace  is  to  be  the  attend- 
ant of  comfort,  and  both  are  to  be  guests  in 
every  man's  dwelling. 

And  now  mark  the  beautiful  final  touches 
in  this  prophet's  dream:  "/  will  assemble 
her  that  halteth^  and  I  will  gather  her  that  is 
driven  out,  and  her  that  is  afflicted."  They 
are  all  to  be  found  in  God's  family.  "  Her 
that  halteth,"  the  child  of  **ifs"  and  "buts" 
and  fears  and  indecision,  she  shall  lose  her 
halting  and  obtain  a  firm  and  confident  step. 
"And  her  that  is  driven  out,"  the  child  of 
exile,  the  self-banished  son  or  daughter,  the 
outcast  by  reason  of  sin ;  they  shall  all  be 
home  again!  "He  gathereth  together  the 
outcasts."  And  along  with  these  there  is 
to  come  "  her  that  is  afflicted,"  the  child  of 


128      THE  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 

sorrows.     The  day  of  grief  is  to  be  ended 
morning  shall  be  the  thing  of  the  preparatory 
day  which  is  over ;  "  He  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes,  and  sorrow  and  sighing 
shall  flee  away." 


Date  Due 


'^V 


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